Project: Atomic Force
by EclipsedbytheSon
Summary: This takes place after my story Loving Grace (read that before this). Alexia is getting antsy at the Intitute, so she and Kurt take a vacation to her home. But trouble's brewing, and will have a terrible effect on Alexia and the X-men. R&R please!
1. Endless studying

*** Disclaimer: I Don't own the X-men, or any of Marvel's other characters. In fact, all I really do own are my Original characters. ***  
  
* . * --Thoughts  
  
****  
  
The silence over the mansion was so complete that the ticking of the grandfather clock in the front room could easily be heard in the lecture room down the hall. The time for finals at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters was right around the corner, and with it nearing, the usual after-class festivities had been replaced by study sessions in the lecture room and library.  
  
Kurt sat in his chair at the table, working steadily on a trigonometry problem. To his left, Kitty was studying some form of vocabulary, mumbling the definitions of words as they appeared on the screen of her laptop. The room was silent except for the ticking of the clock down the hall, and the occasional rustle of turning pages.And the sound of Alexia drumming her fingers as she stared at her chemistry book. Since she was sitting on Kurt's right, he couldn't help but notice that she had been on that same page for the last twenty minutes. She had been pretty good during the first hour of the study period, but now her patience was wearing thin and she was starting to fidget.  
  
"Alexia, would you kindly cut that drumming out?" Kitty hissed across Kurt's math book.  
  
"Oh, sorry." Alexia's fingers stopped, and she finally flipped the page.  
  
"Thank you," Kitty whispered, then said "Unbelieving" as the word 'Incredulous' popped up on her screen.  
  
The sun shone brightly through the windows on the other side of Alexia, and Kurt began to feel uncomfortable as his fur began to absorb more heat than usual. How he hated having dark fur sometimes. As an after-thought, Kurt wondered how it was that his legs were getting the warmest fastest, instead of his face. The idea of that hit Kurt completely after a moment's hesitation, and he glanced under the table to see heat waves coming off of Alexia. "Alexia, do you mind not practicing your powers when I'm sitting right next to you?"  
  
Alexia looked up from her book. "I can't help it," she replied, trying to keep her voice low. "I'm getting bombarded with energy. And it's not like my body can do anything else to get rid of the heat. Believe me. If there was something I could do, I'd be doing it, not sitting here staring at this stupid text book for two hours."  
  
Kurt frowned. He had noticed that Alexia was still having trouble adjusting to the atmosphere of the Institute, especially the study periods. She wasn't really able to handle sitting still for very long. Professor Xavier had explained it by saying that Alexia came from a life where if she was bored, she went and did something, but here at the Institute, there wasn't much for her to do, except study or practice in the Danger Room. And the Professor had been holding off on getting her started in the Danger Room.  
  
Kurt went back to his math, but watched Alexia out of the corner of his eye. She stared at the book a few minutes more, then sighed and put her head down on it, giving up on studying for the day. After a few moments, Kurt heard her voice, barely audible, coming from the pages.  
  
"Vhat are you saying?" Kurt whispered to her, hoping that Logan or Ororo wouldn't catch them talking.  
  
Alexia turned her head and repeated herself, a little louder. "How did I manage to come to a school where they make you study during the best riding hours of the day?"  
  
"You came to learn, you vere sent here to get an education," Kurt answered, knowing that that would not satisfy the girl, but hoping it would anyway.  
  
"I got an education up in Chanceton...and plenty of road time with Zydane to boot."  
  
"Ja, but you didn't get the training for your powers you get here."  
  
Alexia rolled her eyes and picked her head up, turning it so that it was obvious to anyone looking that she was talking to him. "What training? The Professor took me to the Danger Room *once* and that was just to show me around. All my training consists of is making balls of light in my hands and fluctuating the heat in a room...and tests, constant tests, with electrodes and things stuck all over my body. I'm getting *bored*!" She smacked her hand against the table to emphasize 'bored', and when she picked it up, there was a slightly dark handprint seared into the tabletop. "Oops..." Alexia said, and hurriedly tried to rub the handprint away before anyone saw it, or smelled the burnt varnish. Unfortunately, she had forgotten Logan's keen senses.  
  
"There's a rule here that you're not supposed to burn the furniture, kid," Logan whispered, his head suddenly appearing between Kurt's and Alexia's. Alexia's eyes went wide for a second, and then she gave Logan a huge innocent grin and began to rub at the handprint more vigorously.  
  
Kurt hoped that if he returned to his math fast enough, he would be spared the humiliation of being scolded for talking. He busied himself with a tricky problem involving the secant and tangent squared of theta.  
  
"I don't have much else to do, Logan," Alexia answered. "I'm bored out of my mind. I need to do something."  
  
"Yeah," Logan agreed. "You need to study."  
  
Alexia groaned at the idea. "I've been studying for an hour and a half. Look at it out there! Warm, sunny...I would be riding my 'bike right now if I wasn't here. I shouldn't be forced to stay in here against my will."  
  
"You ain't forced. You're required," Logan replied. He and Alexia had a way of dealing with each other. Alexia obviously looked up to Logan as some strange form of a role model, and Logan liked to view her as sort of a ward, but that didn't mean they never tried to outdo each other in an argument.  
  
"Why am I required to do this, when I bring home straight A's without studying at all, just doing my homework?" Alexia appeared to have the upper hand.  
  
"Then do your homework," Logan answered.  
  
"I don't have any, except to stu--" Alexia caught herself before she let the dreaded word slip, but Logan wasn't that stupid.  
  
"Then study. Is that so hard?"  
  
Alexia nodded and pointed outside. "It is when you have that within a foot of you."  
  
Logan grinned. "I can fix that," he said. With that he stood and yanked the shade down over the window, blocking the view of the gorgeous day from Alexia. "There. Now you don't have the beautiful day to distract you."  
  
Alexia moaned as Logan turned and left. Kurt could almost hear her thoughts: This isn't fair. I'm so bored. If I were home I wouldn't be doing this. Why do they care what we get on our exams? I wonder when dinner is. Boy, I wish I had my dirt bike. I wish we didn't have to study...and on and on and on.  
  
Kurt hoped for Alexia's sanity--as well as his own --that finals would be over sooner than promised. 


	2. An Idle Mind is the Devil's Workshop

As soon as the clock struck five, marking the end of the study period, Alexia was up like a rocket and heading out the doors. Two hours of nothing but staring at a book had really been grinding her nerves. Not that she didn't like reading - she read all sorts of books, about all sorts of different things. But the difference between that and the studying was she decided when she was going to read. Her mother had never made her study. Or was it that she had never been *able* to get Alexia to do it. Alexia was starting to think that maybe it was the latter of the two.  
  
Alexia made her way out to the basketball court, hoping that if she got there early, she could get a couple of shots at the basket in before the anyone else showed up.  
  
The court was empty when Alexia reached them, and she snatched up the ball sitting next to the basket. She had never been very good at basketball, but most of the other students at the Institute loved the game, so she had been striving to learn it.  
  
Alexia took a few ill-placed shots, the closest one only barely brushing the backboard. She sighed and tried to remember the last time she had attempted to learn a sport just to fit in with the crowd. What was becoming of her?  
  
"That vas closer." Kurt walked over and picked up the basketball. He passed it back to Alexia who caught it and looked at it forlornly. "You don't like the study periods much, do you?" Kurt asked, watching Alexia's face.  
  
Alexia shook her head. "No, I don't. It's not that I don't like the idea, it's just that I can't sit still. And I know that if I tried to take a nap, Logan would be on me in a second." She tossed the ball half-heartedly at the basket and watched it as it bounced wildly off of the backboard and bounded across the lawn.  
  
"Something else is vrong," Kurt told her, watching the ball as well. "You haven't been yourself for the past few veeks."  
  
"I know," Alexia sighed. "I miss home. This is prime dirtbiking weather, but my bike's not here, and with exams around the corner, I doubt they'd let me go get it. I just need to get out of here for a while." She added, with a hint of anxiety and frustration mixed into her voice.  
  
Kurt blinked, surprised by the statement. Alexia had seemed for the most part happy to be at the Institute, though every once in a while she seemed a bit cooped up. This was the first time she had voiced that she definitely was not happy.  
  
"Can't your brother or Zydane bring it down?" he suggested.  
  
Alexia rolled her eyes. "Yes, they can, Kurt, but where would I ride it? To school and back? Sure, it's licensed for road use and all that, but when I say ride, I mean trail riding, like going as fast as possible on bumpy back roads and foot trails in the woods. There isn't a place like that around here."  
  
"Maybe if you asked the Professor--"  
  
"I've told the Professor all this. He *knows* I'm restless, and I want something to do. But all he wants to do is give me tests to see how many batteries I can drain and stuff. I don't understand him! He hasn't even addressed trying to help me with my problem of rage yet, and that's the most dangerous aspect of my power." She looked down at her hands, and traced the scars on them left by the burns she had received the day of her father's death with her eyes. Sometimes at night she could still feel the heat coursing through them. It scared her stiff.  
  
"Just think, Alexia, three more weeks, unt then you can go trail riding as much as you vant," Kurt told her, walking over and putting an arm around her shoulder.  
  
Alexia was still for a moment, then shrugged out of his arm as she spotted Evan and Rouge making their way towards the basketball court. "If I can last three weeks, it will be an act of God. If I can last another three hours, it'll be a miracle." She looked up at Kurt's eyes. "When I can finally go up, do you want to come along? I'm sure everyone up at the bungalow wants to meet you."  
  
"Ja, sure thing. I vould be glad to accompany you," Kurt said with a smile.  
  
Alexia nodded. "Good. I'm gonna go check my e-mail. I'll see you at dinner, okay?" She gave Kurt's ear a little tweak and headed back into the Institute.  
  
"She not staying for the game?" Rouge asked Kurt as Evan hurried to retrieve the ball.  
  
"Nein. She vants to get better at making baskets before she plays vith us," Kurt explained, watching as the brown-haired girl disappeared into the mansion.  
  
"Oh. Is she stressed over something?"  
  
Kurt nodded. "She is just lonely for her family and friends. She vill be fine vhen the Professor gives her permission to see them."  
  
Rouge nodded. "That's good. It's no fun seeing her depressed. It's just not Alexia without the huge grin."  
  
"Ja," Kurt agreed. "I know."  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Alex,  
  
Hey pal! Just droppin' a quick line to say "Yo". So, how's school  
going? Finals are probably comin' up pretty quick, huh? Poor kid. I  
hated those things...  
We all miss you up here. We went trailing last night, right after the  
rain. The mud was way beaut, it would have been a riot for you. My  
'bike got stuck in the mud once, we had to use Luke's wheeler to get  
it out. It was fine, but the engine flooded, so we were stuck down by  
the rock quarry for a while until I could get it started up. Josh was  
riding your bike. That ring-chain works like a charm.  
When can you come up? We've been dying to see you. The sooner you get  
up here, the better. Josh is an okay rider, but he just doesn't have  
your instincts.  
I wish you were here. My friends think I'm crazy, pining over a girl  
who's not even my girlfriend. But things really haven't been the same  
since you left.  
Well, I know I said I was writing just to say "yo" but this is a  
little longer than that. Write back soon, and tell me when you'll be  
up. I got to go now, Mr. Patterson just brought in his lawn mower and  
wants me to look at it.  
  
Hangin' in there,  
Zy  
  
Alexia sighed as she reread the e-mail. Even Zydane was bored, which was rare.  
  
And what did Josh think he was doing, riding her bike? He had one of his own, and it wasn't her fault if hers was better than his - she was the one that had cleaned people's houses to save up for it, not Josh. Josh just sat around whining until she agreed to give him her old bike. The little dweeb...  
  
The bell for dinner sounded, and Alexia quickly tapped out a note to Zydane, just in case he checked his mail before he went home.  
  
Zy,  
Yeah, finals are a real drag. They're making me study two hours a day  
after I get back from Bayville High. I'm so not feeling this whole  
Institute thing at the moment.  
I'll be up there ASAP. Trust me, I'll figure out a way to get up there  
before a drought hits or something. After all, I need to put Josh in  
his place - and you should know better than to let him ride my bike!  
Din time. I'll write more when I have something interesting to write  
about...like another war over the hair dryer with Kurt or something  
(:D)  
  
L8r,  
Alex  
  
During dinner and the time afterwards before bed, Alexia was relatively quiet, not really thinking about much of anything except how she would get back at Josh for riding her bike. She gobbled up the food at dinner without thinking about it, and only after the Professor told her she wasn't allowed to eat anything for the rest of the night did she realize she was on her third helping of spaghetti. He had been trying to regulate what she ate lately, so that the grocery bills wouldn't ever get as high as they did the first few months she was there. *Stupid food costing so much.* Alexia thought angrily. They didn't even let her eat what she wanted when she wanted.  
  
After hanging out in the rec room for an hour, and attempting to keep track of a motocross race on TV while everyone else demanded that she let them watch an "I Love Lucy" marathon, Alexia gave up and went to the library, so she could check her e-mail before she went to bed. On the way down the hall, she ran into Ororo who held up a hand to stop Alexia from walking by.  
  
"Alexia, we need to talk," Ororo said, going instantly into teacher mode.  
  
*Good Lord. What does she want *now*?* Alexia thought to herself as she answered very politely, "What's up Ms. Munroe?"  
  
"I was wondering if your behavior today during the study period is scheduled to be routine for the next few weeks, so that we can make other arrangements for you."  
  
Alexia thought for a moment. "Well, I can't really help it if I can't sit still for two hours and be quiet. It's just not in my nature. And it doesn't help that I'm bored out of my wits and there's so much heat energy in the room and light energy and."  
  
Ororo cut her off. "Would it be better for you if we let you study in a different room? Say your room, at your desk?"  
  
"I dunno. I mean, that would probably keep me from distracting everybody else, but I'd still be really bored and restless and not willing at all to do it."  
  
"Why are you so bored and restless, Alexia?" Ororo asked, arching her eyebrows.  
  
*Because I constantly forget that studying is fun!* "I'm not used to studying so much. And no one's here. I have no one but Kurt to hang out with when I'm not being forced to stare at a book." She leaned against the wall and met Ororo's gaze.  
  
"There are plenty of other students here, Alexia. You can spend time with them."  
  
"Yeah, right," Alexia retorted. "They all hated me after that whole rumor about me being engaged last Christmas - remember that? Most of them still don't like me because I'm a tomboy or what have you. They're just not my kind of people."  
  
"Not everyone in the world will be your kind of people, Alex. If you made friends with them, you wouldn't be so bored."  
  
Alexia sighed. "I'm not bored because I don't have friends. I'm bored because there's nothing to do here. I miss my home. I miss trailing with Zydane and Luke and I miss hanging out at the bungalow. I had more freedom up there."  
  
"I know, I know," Ororo said quietly. "And the Professor says that you can go as soon as possible. However, let's get back to the original topic. Would you rather study up in your room?"  
  
Alexia's shoulders dropped a good two inches and she set her jaw. Someone in the conversation was not understanding what the other was saying - and it wasn't Alexia. She figured she'd humor Ororo and not start another discussion. "Yeah, I would rather study there."  
  
Ororo nodded. "Clean your desk off tonight, and starting Monday, you can study up there."  
  
Alexia was relieved to hear that tomorrow afternoon - Friday - wouldn't be spent studying. It would be viewed as a day off, just like at Bayville High. "Okay. I'll clean it off. Is that all you wanted?"  
  
Ororo nodded and continued down the hall. Alexia rolled her eyes. Couldn't she just be allowed to do what she wanted to at least once?  
  
She turned and headed up stairs, deciding to clean off her desk before checking her e-mail.  
  
Her desk was covered in about a foot of papers, books and Motocross magazines. It wouldn't be *that* hard to clean off, she just needed to sort through the stuff. She put all her magazines and neat piles under her bed, with the spine out for quick and easy reference, and the books were put on the shelf next to her bed. She then began sifting through the dunes of old homeworks and letters and sketches and brainstorms for lyrics. "Alexia, you're such a packrat!" she told herself as she tossed out about three weeks worth of clothing coupons Kitty had forced upon her that she had never used.  
  
She was finally starting to see the top of her desk when her eye was caught by the ticket stub left from when she had taken the bus from Chanceton to Bayville the winter before.  
  
A light went on in her head. They didn't have school the next day, and then it was the weekend. Three days of gorgeous dirtbiking weather ahead of her, and nothing to stop her from enjoying it. Except for the Professor and Ororo. But Ororo had told her that the Professor said she could go home for a visit as soon as possible. *Well, tomorrow's possible, isn't it?* Alexia thought to herself.  
  
She examined the back of the ticket, and sure enough, there was an advertisement for buying bus tickets on-line. Alexia grinned. It looked like she and Kurt were going on their vacation sooner than they thought.  
  
She quickly finished her desk and dashed back down to the library and got on a computer in the corner. She went to the site printed on the back of the ticket and couldn't help but laugh when she saw how inexpensive ticket prices were from Bayville to Chanceton. There was a bus leaving Friday morning at 5:30. *Perfect,* Alexia thought. *Kurt and I can bamf our way out of here and be gone before anyone wakes up, none the wiser.*  
  
She paid for the tickets using the credit card her mother had given her "for emergencies". She figured saving herself from death by boredom was emergency enough.  
  
Once she had the tickets, she sent an e-mail to Zydane.  
  
  
Zy,  
Be at the Chanceton bus station tomorrow at 8:00.  
You said ASAP. I'm getting there ASAP.  
I'm bringing Kurt along, too, so bring your car instead of your bike.  
  
See ya l8r  
Alex  
  
Alexia grinned as she got up and headed towards Kurt's room to tell him the great news.  
  
His door was open, so after knocking, she just walked in without waiting for him to invite her in. "Hey Kurt. Sup?"  
  
Kurt grinned as she entered. He didn't exactly hide the fact that he liked her. "Not much, mein Fruend. Vhat's up vith you?"  
  
"Well, I was wondering if you have any plans for the weekend."  
  
"Nope, my veekend is free," he said after moment of thought. Then he caught the glint in Alexia's eye. "Vhy? Vhat do you have planned?"  
  
Alexia laughed and sat down on Kurt's bed. "Mr. Wagner, why do you say that like it's a scary thing?"  
  
"Because every time you have that look on your face, you vant me to do something for you that would be a lot of fun, but risks getting me more kitchen duty."  
  
"Ah, what's a few dirty dishes compared to the look on Logan's face when he found frills on all his clothes?" Alexia asked, grinning form ear to ear.  
  
Alexia knew that Kurt really didn't want to smile, but she also knew that her smile was contagious. She laughed as the smile forced itself across his face.  
  
"Vhat is it this time, Alexia?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Well, how about going up to visit my family and Zydane tomorrow? I already ordered the tickets and everything."  
  
Kurt's eyes couldn't have gotten bigger. "VHAT? Already?"  
  
Alexia nodded. "I wanted to go as soon as possible, and the Professor said that I could go as soon as possible. I figured tomorrow is soon enough."  
  
Kurt blinked in surprise. "You're serious? The Professor said that? I vould love to go tomorrow. It vill be awesome."  
  
Alexia nodded. "See, I knew you'd like it." She stood up. "The bus leaves at five-thirty, so we should get there around five. Can you bamf us over tomorrow?"  
  
"Vhy doesn't someone drive us?" Kurt inquired, standing up.  
  
*Aw man, what do I tell him without letting him know no one knows about this?* Alexia thought. "Well...you see Kurt, They were going to, but...I figured it would be easier on all involved if you just teleported us over. You know, so that we don't have to wake anybody up."  
  
Kurt nodded, believing her. "That makes sense. All right. I need to pack unt then go to bed if we have to leave at 5, nein?"  
  
"Yeah," Alexia agreed, restraining herself from a sigh of relief. "Remember to take your image inducer. I doubt the bus driver would be able to stay on the road if he saw you."   
  
"Ja, that's for sure. Not everyone digs the Fuzzy Man."  
  
Alexia grinned. "Right. Okay, I'm going to bed. Night." She kissed him on the cheek and left.  
  
Alexia tried not to think about Kurt as she changed into her pajamas. She knew he thought she had gotten permission to go and that it was all right that they went. She had lied to him - but not too badly. Ororo said as soon as possible, and what was the problem with them going if they weren't missing school? Still, not telling anyone would get them into plenty of trouble when they came back. She decided she didn't want to think about that either.  
  
*Besides, * she thought to herself, *if I don't get out of here, they'll wish I was gone. * 


	3. Zydane Maylor

The alarm rang the next morning far too early for Zydane's liking. Why was he getting up this early again? The shop didn't even open till ten on Fridays, but here he was getting up at 6:45.

Leave it to Alex to make his life difficult.

He yawned as he smacked the alarm clock a few times until the buzzing stopped. He sat up and stretched, almost knocking a half-full glass of soda off his bedside table with his long arms. 

Zydane swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, taking a swig of the warm, flat soda, and headed to the bathroom, gathering relatively clean clothes off the floor of his apartment along the way. He wasn't going to go out of his way to find actually clean clothes for Alex's sake. She wouldn't care anyway. And besides, she had taken just about all his clothes with her to the Institute. She had claimed that the only reason she had taken them was because he was a much cooler dresser than she was. They both knew though that if he really wanted them he would come join her at the school and learn how to use his own powers.

After getting a shower, Zydane got dressed and shaved. He examined his face in the mirror, making sure the bruise he had gotten from running into a tree on his mother's lawn mower a few days before wasn't very visible. If Alex saw it, she would hound him until he told her what had happened, and then she would hound him for being so clumsy. "You race dirt bikes and wheelers through the woods at forty miles an hour with no problem, and then you run into the only tree in your mom's yard on a lawn mower going two!" She would say, falling over from laughter.

Zydane decided that the bruise wasn't noticeable enough for someone to see it without knowing where to look. He glanced at the clock. 7:15. He switched on the news to catch the weather while he got himself a bowl of ChocoSugar Crisps and poured a can of root beer over it. Alexia had come up with this recipe, saying it tasted just like a black cow (an ice cream float made with root beer and chocolate ice cream). She was right. Zydane didn't understand why the makers of the cereal were considering discontinuing the product.

"We're going to be getting a ton of sun today," the weatherman on the TV was saying, putting on an over-sized pair of sunglasses. "And the beautiful weather will continue until Sunday morning when a huge storm system will be moving in over the region. We can expect thunderstorms starting mid Sunday morning and continuing through the early part of the week--"

Zydane clicked off the television, having all the information he needed. The weather would be good enough for Alex and him to get plenty of trailing in over the next few days. His watch beeped, telling him it was time to leave to get Alexia. He tossed his plastic bowl at the huge stack of dishes already piled in and around the sink and sighed in exasperation as the whole mess of plastic dishes and metal pans crashed to the floor. 

"I'll pick it up later," he told the rest of the mess in his apartment as he grabbed his Aussie hat off the back of the couch and headed out the door. 

Zydane Maylor was 20, a good age to be in Chanceton, Lockview, or Streder (where his apartment was). Tall, a little over six feet, and thin, with wiry blond hair and sharp blue eyes, he wasn't what one might call handsome, but he was definitely dashing, and what he didn't have in looks he made up with the best smile and personality this side of the Hudson River. He didn't know all this himself, but he had been told over the years by Alex and his other female friends. And they all agreed: his car definitely added about five hundred points to his Overall Attractiveness Score--a ranking system Alex had made up one rainy day while hanging out with him at Patterson's Motor sports Shop.

And Zydane had to admit, his car was almost hot enough to make him want to go out with himself. It was a little black sports car with two doors that could seat four. Painted on the sides and the hood were lightning bolts in bright blues and yellows, and the break lights had lighting bolts on them too. A working moon roof was Alex's favorite aspect of the vehicle--next to the sound system that was so expensive that it just had to be turned up way too loud.

It was no fun for Zydane to drive his car that early in the morning because there wasn't anyone to turn and stare at it, almost drooling, as he drove past. The drive to Chanceton was one he didn't make too often unless he needed something from the mall or he wanted to see a movie, which wasn't too often. It did feel good to be going somewhere besides the shop or the Bungalow or church. He realized his life had been caught in a rut the past few months since Alex had left, and that bothered him. He was twenty, for goodness sakes, and here he was, relying on a sixteen year old--no, seventeen year old, her birthday had been last month--to have a good time.

He took that thought back as soon as it was created. That wasn't true at all. Alex was his best friend, and had been since she was eleven and he was almost fifteen. He wasn't sure when he switched from hanging out with Alex's older brother Luke to spending most of his time with Alex, and he wasn't sure why. It didn't really matter though, he and Alex had more in common than he and Luke had. They always had a good time together, whether they were racing around the back roads on their bikes, or just lounging around at his apartment talking. 

He pulled his car into the bus station's parking lot and parked near the platform where passengers got on and off the busses. He had parked in the same spot five months before when he had dropped Alex off at the bus. She had been sitting in the seat next to him, holding her video camera in front of her, pointed at herself.

"Alright world," she said to the lens. "Look out. Here comes trouble with a capital A-l-e-x-i-a." He turned the camera to Zydane. "Mr. Maylor, what are your opinions on my debut to the world outside of Chanceton and the surrounding villas?"

Zydane remembered vividly the grin spreading across his face as he answered, "I think the world is going to find it needs more padded walls."

Alexia had looked up at him over the camera with a disapproving look on her face and mouthed "Come on Zy!" 

In response, Zydane had turned back to the camera. "The world is going find out the secret that these mountains have been hiding for the past sixteen years."

Alexia had grinned and whipped the camera back to face her. "Yeah, world. Look out! Here comes ATOMICA!!!" And she had made a ball of light in her hand and zoomed in on it with the camera while she gave a fake maniacal laugh.

Zydane opened his dashboard and pulled out Alexia's camera. Of course, after making her debut video, she had left the camera in his car. He had been driving around with it in his car for the past five months. She could be an airhead sometimes, but that was one of the many things that made her fun to hang out with.

About twenty minutes after Zydane arrived at the bus station, a bus pulled in. Zydane watched as a few old women got off, followed by a couple of kids Zydane recognized as kids he had graduated with. They were coming back from some college down state. Then, after the college kids and old ladies had cleared out, a familiar figure stepped off the bus, her brown hair in a loose braid down her back and her green eyes flashing excitedly. Zydane watched as Alexia turned and said something up the stairs inside the bus. Then a boy her age stepped off. He had long-ish black hair and was wearing a short-sleeved button up shirt over a long sleeve shirt. He looked around curiously as Alexia handed him a backpack. 

Zydane hit the horn lightly and rolled down his window. "Hey, you! Girl with the rat nest for hair! You and your boyfriend need a lift?"


	4. A Reunion

*******  
  
just to repeat the disclaimer---I don't own X-men, they belong to Marvel, etc. I do however own Alexia Tambor, Zydane Maylor, and any Ocs related to them.  
  
*******  
  
"Come on Kurt!" Alexia called up the bus stairs. "Zydane's probably waiting for us."  
  
Kurt slowly stepped down off the bus. With his image inducer on, he looked like a normal teenager, with longish black hair and a Caucasian complexion. Underneath the hologram, though, Kurt was still the same "blue fuzzy elf".  
  
Alexia handed him his backpack. "Here. I'm not going to carry it for you."  
  
Kurt took the bag and shouldered it. Just enough clothes for two days, that's all he brought with him. That all Alexia said he would need.  
  
A car horn beeped and a male voice called from their left, "Hey! You, girl with the rat nest for hair! You and your boyfriend need a lift?"  
  
Alexia's head jerked in the direction of the voice, her face cracking into a huge ecstatic grin. "Zydane!" she cried and dashed to a black car parked at the end of the platform.  
  
A tall young man got out of the car and was met by Alexia flinging herself at him. Kurt watched, slightly confused as Alexia embraced the man like there was no tomorrow. This was obviously Zydane. He definitely did not look the way Kurt had pictured him. He had thought Zydane would be handsome with broad shoulders and a sturdy build - the football player build. But instead, the guy was thin all over, and it almost looked like he could be blown away by the slightest breeze. And he wasn't handsome, not that Kurt could see.  
  
The two were talking excitedly, interrupting each other, speaking in a pattern that made no sense to Kurt, but seemed perfectly normal to the two of them. They could have each been half of the same person, it seemed. He shifted his backpack on his shoulder and walked over, hoping that maybe they would remember him.  
  
"Zydane, this is my friend, Kurt Wagner. I brought him up so that he can learn the ways of the world. Kurt, this is Zydane," Alexia said when Kurt reached them.  
  
Zydane stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you Kurt. Alexia's told me all about you."  
  
"She has? Vhat exactly has she told you?" Kurt asked, eying Zydane's hand rather uncomfortably.  
  
"Everything. All about your...special qualities," Zydane replied, not fazed at all by Kurt's reluctance.  
  
Kurt nodded, took Zydane's hand and gave it a firm shake. Zydane looked mildly surprised at the sensation of shaking a hand that really only had two fingers and a thumb and was slightly fuzzy.  
  
"I hate to tell you both this," Zydane said, motioning for them to get in the car. "But I have to work today, so we can't go trailing till later this afternoon. But I'm sure Mr. Patterson won't mind you two hanging around the shop. And there's an arcade next door, so if you guys get really bored, you can go in there. Chester works there so you guys won't get turned into the police for skipping school," he added. Kurt figured Chester was one of their friends.  
  
Kurt got into the back seat of the car, leaving the front to Alexia. She got in, and the first thing Zydane did was open the dashboard, revealing something that made Alexia squeal in delight.  
  
"So THAT'S where it got to!" she cried. "Why didn't you tell me it was in here?"  
  
Zydane grinned as he started up the car. "Because it's funny when you've lost something. You go ballistic, and you complain so much. It cracks me up every time."  
  
Alexia threw Zydane a dirty look. Kurt found it amazing that the look barely fazed Zydane, but would have burned just about anyone at the Institute. In fact, it made Zydane laugh more.  
  
"It's true! It's true!" Zydane laughed, as he pulled out of the bus station.  
  
Alexia rolled her eyes. "You're such a dork sometimes. Oh well, I'm glad to have my camera back."  
  
She turned suddenly in her seat, facing Kurt, a video camera up to her face.  
  
"Say hi to the camera Kurt!" she laughed.  
  
Kurt waved at the camera and gave a shy "Guten Tag."  
  
Zydane grinned at Kurt in the rear view mirror. "Ok, now that that formality is out of the way, she's going to ask you to pour out a private confession of your feelings for her so she can." He was interrupted in mid sentence by Alexia punching him squarely in the shoulder. Zydane cried out in pain and grabbed at the spot where she had just punched, causing the car to swerve a little. He got the car back under control almost instantly, but continued to nurse his shoulder.  
  
"Are you all right?" Kurt asked, once the shock from the sudden swerve wore off.  
  
"Com'n Zy," Alexia cried. "I didn't hit you that hard!"  
  
Zydane nodded in response to Kurt's question. "I'll be fine, I just messed up my shoulder pretty good last night trailing with Luke. It's still pretty sensitive."  
  
"Sorry," Alexia mumbled.  
  
Zydane shrugged off her apology. "It's no big deal. I'll show you when we get to the shop."  
  
Alexia nodded, then turned her head a little to talk to Kurt. "Zydane's the head mechanic at a garage up in Steter."  
  
"I see," Kurt nodded. "Cars?"  
  
Zydane shook his head. "Nah, I leave that to the professionals. I take care of stuff like dirt bikes and snowmobiles and four wheelers. You know, off road sports vehicles. Lawnmowers too."  
  
"So you have to vork today? Vhat vill ve do, besides play at the arcade?"  
  
Alexia laughed. "We're going to help him, Kurt. Mr. Patterson is really cool, he won't mind if we help out. I'll teach you how to use the cash register or change the oil in a wheeler or something."  
  
"Alex, I don't need to be sued for letting you screw up someone's ATV," Zydane groaned as he pulled into a parking lot. The sign on the building next to it read "Patterson's Motor Sports Garage and Retail". There was a dirt bike parked next to the front door.  
  
"Hey, you once said yourself I could do the quickest oil change in town!" Alexia cried, feigning insult.  
  
Zydane chuckled as he turned off the car. "That's only because you have you big brother to do it for you." He got out of the car, and pulled his seat forward to let Kurt out.  
  
"Nuh-uh!" Alexia replied. "He doesn't do it for me! He showed me once, and then I did it for myself!"  
  
Zydane rolled his eyes and lowered his voice so only Kurt could hear. "She has her older brother do it for her." He grinned and motioned for Kurt to keep that information to himself.  
  
Kurt smiled, agreeing to keep the secret. Alexia eyed them angrily from the other side of the car, then huffed into the shop.  
  
"She's not very happy vith you," Kurt commented, watching Alexia's figure disappear into building.  
  
"Ah, she'll be fine. She's not really mad at me. She just didn't wanna argue. I'm giving her a hard time, that's all, and she knows it. She's not really in the greatest mood...that'll have to stay like that though until we go trailing," Zydane explained as he pulled out a set of keys, and used them to unlock and open a box next to a large garage door, in which was a key pad. "I shouldn't give her such a hard time sometimes, though. She really is the fastest oil change in the area. Her doing that for me today will really save me a bunch of time." He punched in a code on the pad, and the garage door began to lift open.  
  
"It is amazing," Kurt said as he followed Zydane under the still-opening door and into an area that looked like an auto garage, but for smaller vehicles. "Simply amazing how when Alexia gets like this at the Institute, everyone runs for cover, and yet you just brush it off like it's nothing."  
  
Zydane sighed. "Alexia isn't a bad kid, and she doesn't get real upset very often. Lemme guess, you all avoid her in bad moods because you're scared she might blow you up, right?"  
  
Kurt stopped and stared astonished at Zydane's back as the tall boy moved over to a time clock and punched in. Zydane had gone straight to the root of the problem, without tiptoeing around the topic. Kurt had known that Alexia had caused her father's death in a fit of rage, and though he knew it had been an accident, he was still frightened by the fact. The other students were scared of her as well, not scared like they had been of him when he had appeared, blue and demonic looking, at the Institute, but they feared Alexia more like a gun ready to go off.  
  
Zydane glanced over at Kurt and seemed to be able to read all this off his face. "Don't leave Alexia alone like that when she gets upset. Really. It kills her. She calls me whenever she's in a bad mood, and though she doesn't say it outright, I can tell when she's upset because of something that happened at the Institute." He sighed and walked over to a four- wheeler and sat down beside it. "Sometimes I think she's right when she says I should come to the Institute - not for myself, but for her."  
  
"She has been asking you to come to the Institute? How can you manage to refuse that girl anything?" Kurt cried.  
  
Zydane grinned as he began to take a tire off the four-wheeler. "I've grown up with her, I know everything about her, even how best to resist her charms."  
  
Kurt shook his head. "She vants you to come to the Institute for your sake? Vhy? Are you a..." He trailed off, hoping not to offend Zydane.  
  
"A mutant? Yeah, actually," Zydane answered. "I can create shields around stuff, you know, like a force field."  
  
"I see. Vhy don't you come to the Institute?"  
  
"Not you too...Listen, I've told Alex this, and now it's your turn. I didn't go to college for a reason, I'm not into the whole higher education thing - I'm happy being a mechanic, it's what I've always wanted to do. Plus my power's not dangerous like hers, so I don't need to learn how to control it."  
  
"Oh," Kurt answered, and he was silent, watching as Zydane began to fiddle with the metal part of the wheel.  
  
"Why don't you go see what Alexia's up to Kurt?" Zydane said, not the least bit rude or sounding like he wanted to get rid of him. "There's not much you can do back here, and you'll get bored if you just watch me...I know, go bug Alexia about teaching you how to change the oil in these things." He motioned to a few lawnmowers lined up against the wall. "That'll give you both something to do."  
  
"All right," Kurt agreed.  
  
Kurt decided he liked Zydane. He was older than Kurt by a few years, but he had a personality similar to Alexia's, and he seemed to have a lot of patience. With some luck, perhaps he would be able to lift Alexia from the depression she had been suffering. 


	5. Mutant 777

"She and Mutant 315 left the Institute this morning at five o'clock. We have information that they traveled back to her home area."  
  
"Just as we assumed she would."  
  
"Yes, sir. You were correct in your assumptions."  
  
"Yes, she is most definitely predictable in those ways. Who is positioned up there to monitor her?"  
  
"Lewis, sir, and his group."  
  
"Good. He will handle the situation well. Did they tell anyone of their departure, or was it secret?"  
  
"From our limited sound monitoring, we believe they did not notify anyone."  
  
"Then tell Lewis to do whatever he has to to bring that girl in, but to wait until my signal."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"And make sure that Lewis is aware that serious injury or death to the girl will result the same to him."  
  
"And anyone else that stands in his way, sir?"  
  
"They don't matter. Tell him any bloodshed made in obtaining the girl will be accepted and viewed as expendable. The only objective in this mission is to obtain Mutant 777." 


	6. Messy Messy Messy

A/N: I know this story is lacking in the way of action. Just hang tight for another chapter and half (including this one) and we'll get to some real fun stuff. Also, please R&R this story-those of you who have been R&Ring, thank you very much, it's been real encouraging.  
  
***********  
  
DISCLAIMER: I've been begging and pleading with Marvel to give me the rights to X-men and all its characters, but since that has yet to be done, I don't own them (Except my O.C.s)  
  
***********  
  
Zydane sighed as he examined the carborator from Sean Wilcot's dirt bike. How could a person let their bike get into such decrepid condition. The carborator didn't just need to be cleaned, it needed to be replaced. That was going to be fun...and since it was an expensive bike, the parts were going to be difficult to obtain.  
  
Across the room, Alexia was explaining to Kurt how to change the oil in an engine. Kurt didn't seem all that interested, but Alexia was having the time of her life. That was what she lived for, playing around with engines and machines, getting into the things that made a dirt bike run, getting her hands dirty...as well as her face. Throughout the day, Zydane had silently smiled at the fact that she kept absent-mindely touching her face and hair with her grease-and-oil-covered hands, making herself look like a "grundge-bucket", as her mother would say.  
  
Glancing at the clock, Zydane put down the carborator and wiped his hands off on a rag. "Hey, guys, let's get going. It's five thirty. We can go back to my place and grab something to eat and then head on up the mountain and go trailing. Sound cool?"  
  
Alexia shot up like a rocket. "Finally!" She exclaimed. "I thought you'd never be done with Wilcot's bike!"  
  
"I'm not," Zydane answered. "He needs a new carbo. Fun fun fun for the mechanic."  
  
Alexia grinned and wiped her own hands off on the rag Zydane threw her. "Well, that just means he has to pay more for labor, right?"  
  
Zydane allowed a sly smile creep in across his face. "Good point, Alex..."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------  
  
"ZYDANE! LOOK AT THIS MESS!"  
  
Zydane winced as he closed the door to his apartment, suddenly remembering the fallen stack of dirty dishes on his kitchen floor. Alexia's mouth was hanging open, an astonished and disgusted look spread across her face.  
  
Zydane decided to play the innocent card, hoping Alexia wouldn't rail him too much for being a total slob. "What mess Alex?"  
  
Alexia pointed first to the dishes on the floor, then about the entire apartment. "This mess! Since when did Cheryl not teach you how to clean up after yourself?"  
  
Of course she would bring his mother into this. "I wouldn't talk, Alex," he said, smiling. "Look in a mirror."  
  
Alexia picked up a pot off the floor and examined her face in it. Immeadiately she blushed, seeing how dirty her own face had gotten.  
  
"I thought so," Zydane commented. "Why don't you take a shower? I promise that when you come out, there won't be any dirty dishes. I'll take care of them all."  
  
"Alright." Alexia turned and when into the bathroom.  
  
Zydane turned to Kurt. "Hey Kurt, wanna help me? There are some garbage bags under the sink. We need to take all these dirty dishes and put them in the bags and then hide them so that Alexia won't be able to find them."  
  
"I HEARD THAT!" Alexia shouted through the bathroom door.  
  
Zydane grinned sheepishly at Kurt. "Or we could just wash them."  
  
Kurt nodded. "That vould probably be a vise thing to do."  
  
As Zydane filled the sink, Kurt watched him, interested. "How old are you, Zydane?"  
  
"Twenty. Why?" Zydane asked, though he had a feeling he knew where this question was leading.  
  
"Vell, I vas just vondering. You seem to understand Alexia to a point of perfection. I have been her friend for five months, unt I still have no clue vhat she is thinking most of the time."  
  
Zydane smiled a strange smile, partly proud, partly sad. "Alexia and I grew up next to each other. I was almost four when she was born, and I vaguely remember the first time I saw her. She was this little red thing, all wrinkly and smelly. My mom tells me I told the adults 'God really screwed up on this one.'  
  
I was best friends with her older brother Luke, and she spent some time with us, but usually she tagged along with an even older brother, John. Then, when I was like fourteen, which made her like ten or eleven, John's girl friend got pregnant, and Alexia's parents got really mad. Shouting at him about how he had just become a member of the church, and then he went and had relations before he was married. So John just left, and Alex suddenly didn't have anyone to hang out with, so she started hanging around me and Luke. Then one day she showed up at my door, asking my mom if she could play with ME, when normally she played with my little sisters. I didn't mind, she was a cool little kid. We just kept getting to be better friends, and eventually she was my best friend instead of Luke."  
  
Kurt nodded. "So you started as a substitute for her role model, unt then became more to her."  
  
"Yeah, I guess you could look at it that way," Zydane agreed with a smile. "Hand me that dish soap would you?"  
  
Working together, the boys had almost finished the dishes when Alexia reappeared, wearing different clothes then when she had gone in to take a shower. Zydane eyed her. "Why do you always raid my closet when you come over Alex? I need to wear clothes too, you know."  
  
Alexia sighed as she began to organize Zydane's coffee table--which turned out to be just a piece of ply wood over a few cinder blocks. "You just have better taste in clothes, is all Zy," she siad, but without humor in her voice.  
  
Zydane decided to ignore the hint that Alex was still unhappy about him not being at the Institute. He knew she was, but he didn't want to go, and no matter how much begging or hinting she did, it wouldn't change anything.  
  
Once the dishes were done, Zydane went into his room and hurriedly stuffed some clothes into a backpack. "I was thinking we would spend the night up at the Bungalow," he called into the other room. "Everyone's dying to see you, Alex."  
  
"Sure," Alexia agreed. "Sounds good. I assume that the bikes are up there, or do we have to stop by my mom's house?"  
  
"No, everything's there," Zydane answered. He zipped up his back pack and grabbed his helmet off the dresser. After a moment's thought, he took another helmet out of his closet.  
  
On their way out to the car, Zydane handed Kurt the helmet. "Here, you're gonna need this. The Bungalow's way out in the middle of no where. If you fall off a bike, we don't want to have to drive you for an hour to get to a hospital."  
  
Kurt nodded and took the helmet.  
  
The drive up to the Bungalow was a long one, going through a few small villas as they traveled up the side of the mountain. Gradually, the nice paved roads were replaced by rut-filled dirt roads as they left civilization further behind them.  
  
Kurt noticed with a slight twinge of fear that not only were the roads getting worse, by Zydane was steadily going faster.  
  
"Shouldn't you slow down?" he asked, once the spedometer passed 60 miles per hour. "Vhat if you see a deer in the road? Or another CAR!" Kurt cried, pointing in front of them at a black luxury car that had just pulled out in front of them from another road.  
  
"CRAP!" Zydane shouted, as he slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel violently.  
  
Their car stopped just in time to miss the other. The driver of the black car didn't even stop--instead, he floored his own accelerator and zoomed off.   
  
"Jeez, that was close!" Alexia breathed.  
  
"Heck yeah," Zydane agreed. "I've seen that car around a lot lately, like up by the Bungalow."  
  
"How close to the Bungalow?" Alexia asked, slightly fearful.  
  
"With in a couple miles of it...not that close, really, but it's weird anyway."  
  
"Vhy vould seeing a car be vierd?" Kurt asked as Zydane started his car back up again and continued to drive.  
  
"Well, it wouldn't be wierd normally, but no one lives up here--there aren't any houses except the Bungalow. People normally don't come up here. No phone lines, and no electric lines either, we have a generator to give us power," Alexia explained.  
  
"Oh," Kurt said quietly.  
  
The rest of the ride was silent. Zydane obviously hadn't learned anything from the near crash, for he was soon zipping along the road at a pretty high clip. Kurt noticed that for the most part he drove with one hand on the wheel, the other either hanging out the window, or tapping out the beat to some imaginary song when it wasn't shifting gears.  
  
After a while, Zydane pulled onto a narrow road and after about a hundred feet a house came into view. It was a two-story house, not all that large. Parked next to the house, there were a few four wheelers and dirt bikes. Zydane pulled off the driveway and before he had even parked completely, Alexia had jumped out of the car and was running towards one of the dirt bikes.  
  
Without thinking, Kurt *bamf*ed his way out of the car and ran to catch up with her, leaving Zydane sitting in his car, staring at the place Kurt had just been sitting in shock.  
  
There was a boy standing near the target dirt bike, and when he looked up and saw Alexia, he looked like he was staring into the Apocolyps.  
  
"JOSH!" Alexia shouted, causeing the boy to flinch. "GET AWAY FROM MY BIKE! YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED ON MY BIKE, YOU DWEEB!"  
  
Josh backed away from the dirt bike, taking off the helmet he'd been wearing and revealing a head full of curly brown hair. He held the helmet out to Alexia who snatched it from him and started to speak to him in a low voice that Kurt couldn't hear.  
  
"I'm sorry Alexia," Josh said after a few moments of Alexia's talking.  
  
"You're forgiven, but don't let me hear about you riding my bike again."  
  
Josh nodded, then headed inside the house. Alexia sighed and turned the helmet over in her hands. Kurt noticed that her hair looked like it had been attacked by a balloon covered in static electricity, telling him she was slightly annoyed.  
  
"Hey, Zy!" she called out, suddenly whirling to face Kurt and Zydane, who was approaching from the car, still slightly shocked by Kurt's teleport. "Let's ride!" She yanked on her helmet and swung onto her dirt bike.  
  
"I'll go get Luke, he's inside," Zydane said with a nod. "He can take the four wheeler so Kurt can come along."  
  
"Whatever," Alexia said with a shrug as she started her bike. "I'll meet you all up in McKinley's field. And hurry up."  
  
With that, she revved her engine and suddenly zoomed off down the driveway and out of sight.  
  
Zydane rolled his eyes and grinned at Kurt. "Put on your helmet and get on the back of that fourwheeler." He handed Kurt Alexia's video camera. "Put that in your back pack. Alex is gonna want it." 


	7. A Stranger on the road

**I don't own anything.Except my original Characters.nothing else.not even my dignity**  
  
It had been a long time since Alexia had been on a dirt bike. She had to think for a moment, actually, before she could say exactly how long it had been. Seven months, she decided, as she turned her bike onto a different road and started to head toward McKinley's field.  
  
Yeah, she could remember now, it was almost seven months, maybe a little longer or shorter - right before Halloween. She had been doing jumps with Zydane in a field just down the driveway from the Bungalow. She had been trying to jump over a bunch of logs, but had a nasty spill because her bike didn't go far enough and landed on the logs. She had had to dump the bike and went rolling end over end across the ground. She had only bruised a couple of ribs and hurt her tail bone (not that she reported any injuries to her mother), but her bike's chain had caught on one of the logs and the sheer velocity that she had been traveling had ripped the chain in half. Zydane helped her order a new O-ring chain to repair the bike, but that didn't come until she had gone to the Institute.  
  
Alexia could tell Zydane had done some other minor work on the bike he hadn't charged her for. He had cleaned the air filter and gave the bike an over-all tune-up, which it probably needed pretty badly after her crash. She wondered in the back of her mind if that was his way of apologizing for their break-up a year and a half before, because before and during that period when they were a couple, Zydane charged her at least half price for any work she had him do. Now, only special work was charged. Not that she cared. Zydane was Zydane, and Zydane did what Zydane wanted when Zydane wanted.  
  
It never really seemed he had much cause to do something outside the two options that it was either something God wanted him to do, or it was something that did not go against God's will that he wanted to do.  
  
McKinley's field was named after the old man who had once owned it, but left it to the state in his will. The state didn't really have much to do with it, so they left it alone. It had become a favored racing and mucking-around spot for all of Alexia's family and anyone associated with the Bungalow who rode any type of recreational vehicle. It was partially flat, partially inclined, making it ideal for both trick jumping, and off- road trail racing. As Alexia pulled into the field, she could almost see the phantom images of her older brother John teaching her how to handle a dirt bike. She could almost hear his calm, soothing voice say "When you make a left turn, don't clutch the right handle bar too tight, or you'll give yourself more throttle than you'll ever want...Slow and easy when you're releasing the clutch, Alex, you don't want the bike to stall out..."  
  
Alexia shook her head to clear her mind. She hadn't seen John for ages, and he wasn't talking to her now. She missed him horribly. Not the way she had missed Zydane and her dirt bike while she was at the Institute, this was more of a missing that was deep in her being, and while she didn't notice it too often, she knew it was there, and it would take more than just time to make it go away.  
  
She increased the throttle and let up on the breaks, sending herself flying out into the middle of the field. She made a wide right-handed turn and started heading up the slope. She found the path that had been dug fresh this spring by many races, and she traced the course around and around the field, up and down, back and forth, breathing in the exhilaration of the speed and the vibrations of the bike beneath her. She could feel the energy everywhere about her, and the more excited she got, the more energy she felt, charging the air, beckoning to her, begging that she play with it, make use of it. She refused to give into the temptation until Zydane arrived.  
  
After a few short minutes, a familiar red bike charged into the field, followed by a four-wheeler with a driver and a passenger. Alexia grinned and turned her bike so she would be able to catch up with Zydane. They raced along side of each other, grinning from ear to ear as Kurt and Luke watched from the four-wheeler. Alexia suddenly broke from Zydane, turning a sharp right. Zydane followed suit, banking so hard in the turn that he nearly lost his balance.  
  
Around and around the field they zoomed, until Alexia, hyper from all the energy she had managed to absorb, pulled up next to Luke's four-wheeler.  
  
"Let's go trailing," she said, more commanding than requesting.  
  
Her older brother nodded. "Sounds good. Kurt here has the camera. You want him to film it?"  
  
Alexia grinned wildly inside her helmet. "Yeah. Make sure you've got a good hold on it Kurt. I don't want my favorite thing after my dirt bike to get smashed on a dirt road. I'd prefer it to be done by some government agency."  
  
Kurt nodded and took out the camera, making sure the strap was tight over his hand, and he could get a good grip on it with his three fingers. His other hand was curled around the bars of the rack on the back of the four- wheeler.  
  
Seeing that her blue furry friend was secured to his ride, Alexia revved up and tore out of the field and on to the road.  
  
Along they flew, Alexia and Zydane on their bikes, and Luke and Kurt on the four-wheeler. The dirt roads, rough from the years of neglect and hard New York rains passed beneath them, as though giving in to the teens' wild abandon.  
  
Kurt filmed the trip with the camera, switching from Alexia to Zydane to the scenery around them and then back.  
  
After a while, Alexia thought she spotted something up ahead on the road. She motioned for the others to slow down, curious as to what it could be. As she neared it, she realized she was seeing a man, walking down the road. She thought this kind of odd, a person being this far from any civilization without a car. The man spotted her and waved at her to stop. Alexia slowed down and stopped next to the man, and the other followed suit.  
  
"May we help you sir?" she asked, trying not to sound too cautious.  
  
He was tall, with crew-cut blond hair, and a serious looking face. "Yes, actually. Can you tell me how to get to Lockview? I decided to go for a little stroll and I seem to have gotten myself lost."  
  
Got yourself lost my foot, Alexia thought to herself. A little stroll ten miles away from the nearest town...what bull. But, she just simply smiled and said "Well, sir, you turn, go back down this road the way you came, take the first right, then the second left, and you'll be down in Lockview in no time."  
  
The man smiled - a disturbing sight, Alexia thought - and thanked her.  
  
Without anymore reply to the man's thank you than a shrug, Alexia started down the road again and motioned for her friends to follow.  
  
-----------------------------------------------   
  
As the sun began to set and shadows began to get too deep to penetrate safely, the group returned to the Bungalow to figure out what to do during the night.  
  
As soon as Kurt walked into the door, he could see this wasn't any normal house.  
  
First off, the furniture was anything but new. Most of the couches (and there were a lot of couches) had holes in the upholstery and stuffing was coming out. Many of the wooden chairs around the kitchen table had been patched up some how, whether with duct tape or nails. The kitchen appliances didn't look in the greatest of shape, but the dozen or so kids in the house seemed pretty well happy and fed.  
  
"Who are all these people?" Kurt asked Zydane has the whole lot ran over and started hugging Alexia and talking all at one. Most of them seemed to be a few years younger than her.  
  
"They're the permanent residents of the Bungalow," Zydane explained.  
  
"Vhere did they come from?"  
  
Zydane shrugged. "A lot of them don't know. They just found themselves wondering around somewhere. Most of them were runaways, they could remember that much, but then there was just a blank spot in their memories. Other kids just ran away and won't tell us where to take them back. We have a website. When they search the website looking for help about their powers, they ended up finding our site. They contact us, and we help them if we can."  
  
"Their powers?" Kurt asked as we watched a few younger kids drag Alexia up some stairs. "You mean they're all mutants?"  
  
"Yep, everyone here is a mutant except Alex's brothers Josh and Luke. You want something to eat?"  
  
Kurt shrugged. "Vhat to you have?"  
  
Zydane opened the ancient refrigerator and poked his head inside. "About the only thing I'd trust would be the hot dogs, only cause they're only a few days past the expiration date."  
  
"Ach, vell, all right. But you vill have to answer to Alexia if I die."  
  
"You won't die!" Zydane laughed. "Death by rancid hot dogs, yes, like anyone's had that. Heck, you heat anything hot enough and you'd be able to eat it." He threw a few hot dogs into a frying pan and turned on the stove. "So, what's with you and Alex? She suddenly deciding to keep secrets from me? She hasn't mentioned anything about you two being together."  
  
"Ve're not...vell...not really together. Ve both like each other, ve just haven't gotten around to making it serious," Kurt explained, taking a seat at the table. "Vhat will ve do tonight?"  
  
Zydane grinned. "I saw a whole bunch of Molotov cocktails and fireworks and stuff poorly hidden under the porch. I think Josh made them up for a little bash later tonight down in the rock quarry after all children under the age of 15 are in bed."  
  
"Vhat kind of bash?"  
  
Zydane's grin widened as he tossed the hot dogs on a plate and handed it to Kurt.  
  
"An explosive one."  
  
"An explosive what?" Alexia's voice sounded from the kitchen door way.  
  
"Oh, just a little celebration. You know, the kind where we set an age limit," Zydane said off-handedly, winking at the end of the sentence.  
  
Alexia's green eyes sparkled. "Their bedtime's still nine, right?"  
  
Zydane nodded and handed Alexia a hot dog, which she ate in two bites, oblivious to the heat of it. "We'll leave around ten thirty."  
  
Alexia nodded back. "This will prove most interesting. I haven't been able to play for a long long time." 


	8. An Explosive Chase

Kurt wasn't sure what Alexia meant about "playing". But when he asked, Alexia and Zydane just shrugged innocently and told him he'd see at the rock quarry.  
  
At ten-thirty, when they were sure all the younger kids were asleep, they left. There were twelve all together that went, including Alexia, Kurt, and Zydane. While those three drove to the quarry in Zydane's car, everyone else took dirt bikes and four-wheelers.  
  
The quarry wasn't very big as far as quarries went, but it was big enough for them to play with explosives and not set any trees on fire. Kurt could see ominous craters and black spots scattered across the dirt ground of the area, and he had a feeling that when they were planning today was mild compared to some of the stuff they had done before.  
  
Alexia tossed Kurt a tupperware container. Opening it, Kurt could see a pinkish gel inside.  
  
"Vhat is this?" he asked.  
  
Alexia grinned and lifted some glass bottles half-filled with gasoline and stuffed with cloth - the Molotov cocktails - out of Zydane's truck. "It's this stuff my mom uses to cook with. It's like fire in a tub."  
  
"Vhat are ve going to do vith it?" Kurt inquired.  
  
"We're not going to do anything with it," Zydane told him. "That's Alexia's department. She puts it on her hands and lights it, absorbs the energy, and then gives us a light show."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Once all the "combustibles" - as Alexia liked to call them - were unloaded, the burn-fest began. Alexia picked up one of the glass bottles, lit the cloth, and threw it. It hit the far side of the quarry and shattered into millions of burning pieces. Kurt could help but grin at how cool it looked. Zydane threw another one, and everyone cheered.  
  
"Are you sure this is legal?" Kurt asked, the fact that it might not be suddenly dawning on him.  
  
Alexia shrugged. "I dunno. I know we'd get in big trouble if the rangers caught us, but I don't think they patrol this area very often. And it's not like anyone is getting hurt."  
  
She opened the tub of gel and called Zydane over. He grinned and got out a lighter as Alexia smeared the pink goop all over her hands.  
  
"Step back," he told Kurt as he lit the lighter and Alexia held her and out to it.  
  
Kurt nodded and stepped back. When the gel on Alexia's hands met the flame, it caught on fire and glowed with blue-hot light. The change was almost instant: Alexia's eyes began to sparkle, then shine, as though flashlights had been turned on in the back of her head, and her hair began to stand on end. The air around her became electrified, and when Zydane reached for her playfully, a visible stream of energy shocked him, causing him to cry out and jump back. He grinned.  
  
They repeated the process of putting gel on Alexia's hands and then lighting it and letting her absorb the energy from it until when she touched the tub of gel it burst into flames. She grinned up at the kids and her hands started to glow. Everyone moved back and watched as a ball formed between her hands, it was small, no bigger than a hackey-sack, but Kurt could see the heat shimmering off of it. Alexia tossed it back and forth in her hands, then she narrowed her eyes a bit, and they all watched as the ball rose from her hands and started to spin in the air. Then, Alexia raised her hands and out of them shot two thin streams of light that made contact with the ball causing it to explode. The explosion was so bright that it made Kurt see spots.  
  
Alexia grinned as everyone cheered, but refused to do anything else. She released the rest of the energy pent up inside her and started to suggest that Luke set off the fire works when a boy on a four-wheeler came barreling into the quarry, shouting hysterically.  
  
"David, why the heck aren't you watching the road?" Zydane cried as the four-wheeler came to a fast halt. "You're supposed to be on the look out for Rangers!"  
  
"That's why I'm here! There are cars coming this way, and motorcycles! I can hear them. They're almost here. We gotta split!" The boy panted, waving his arms to get his point across.  
  
There was silence from the group, then Alexia suddenly shouted, "Leave everything! Don't waste the time packing up! All you guys on ATVs get your butts outta here and head back to the Bungalow via different routes! We'll follow in the rear in Zydane's car!"  
  
No one bothered to stand still for all of the orders. Before Alexia had started talking, many people were already on their vehicles and were revving the engines. Alexia grabbed Kurt's hand, and pulled him over to the car. "Hurry Zydane!" she shouted as they climbed in.  
  
The sound of the ATVs of the other kids had died away, but now it started to sound as though they were headed back up the road. Kurt could hear motors in the distance, and a thought occurred to him as Zydane jumped in the car and yanked on his seat belt. "Since vhen vould forest rangers drive motorcycles? Don't they usually have just cars or jeeps?"  
  
Zydane and Alexia exchanged terrified looks, and Kurt had a sinking feeling that they knew he was right. Zydane turned the ignition, shifted, and floored it, speeding his way out of the quarry and onto the road. As they pulled out of the quarry, Kurt looked behind them and saw headlights, a lot of head lights, not so far behind them.  
  
Zydane glanced in his mirror and shifted again. "Since when to so many rangers come out just to call an end to something going on in the quarry?"  
  
Alexia and Kurt kept their eyes fixed on the lights behind them, and Kurt noticed that one was getting larger very quickly. "They're gaining on us!"  
  
"It's a motorcycle Zy, we could try to out run them," Alexia said, fear apparent in her voice. The air in the car was starting to get cold.  
  
"I can't go any faster unless you wanna be made a permanent part of a tree, Alex!" Zydane shouted as he turned a corner. "Do something to get him off my tail!"  
  
"Like what? And how? It's not like they're threatening us!"  
  
Suddenly a loud bang sounded from behind the car and hole appeared in the middle of the back window and then the windshield.  
  
"THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US!" Kurt cried, ducking in his seat.  
  
"I think I'd consider that a threat!" Zydane shouted, stepping on the gas a little more.  
  
Alexia thought quickly, then reached up and hit the button that opened the moon roof. "I think I can do something!"  
  
She opened the window to allow more warm air from outside to flow in at her, and she absorbed all the energy she felt safe having. Then she quickly undid her seat belt and carefully climbed up so her head was poking out of the moon roof. "Kurt! Hold my legs so I don't fall!" Kurt reached out and grabbed them, gritting his teeth against the mild shocks he received.  
  
Alexia stood up all the way so that from her navel up was out of the car. The headlights were bright in her eyes, but she forced herself on concentrate on the one that was only about ten meters behind the car. Using her mind, she told the energy that was pent up in her body to twist itself together and form spheres of light and heat. Once she had two golf-ball sized spheres in her hands, she willed them to go at the man on the motorcycle. They outshone the headlight by a long shot, and while she couldn't control them exactly, the little she could do, along with the brightness of them, surprised the man on the motorcycle enough to cause him to serve away and crash into a ditch.  
  
Next, Alexia turned her attention to keeping the rest of the vehicles away. As Zydane turned a corner, Alexia looked around to see where they were. "Take Lockview Road! Then double-back up Talon!" she told Zydane. He did as she advised, and as they turned onto Lockview, she aimed a large bolt of energy at a large tree. Like a laser, the energy cut through the base of the tree and it fell behind them, blocking the road. I've always wanted to do that, Alexia thought with a grin.  
  
Zydane quickly turned on to Talon road as Alexia eased herself back into her seat. She was shaking from nerves, but she was really happy too, which made her feel kind of sick and twisted.  
  
"I've never heard of rangers firing on people like that," Zydane said tensely as they drove along on the back roads, taking the longest, most confusing route possible back to the Bungalow. "Maybe firing at the tires, but not through the windshield. Look! A few more degrees to the left, and they would have hit me!"  
  
"Well they didn't," Alexia told him, and she took a deep breath. "I don't like that. They didn't have sirens like the police or firefighters, and they didn't act like rangers. Who do you think they are?"  
  
"No one good," Zydane answered. "When we get back, I'm assigning shifts of people to patrol the area, while everyone else gets rest. I don't like the way this weekend's headed."   
  
--------------------------------------  
  
When they reached the Bungalow, everyone else was already there. As Alexia walked in the door, her older brother Luke ran over and hugged her tightly. "I thought they had got you guys," he murmured.  
  
"No, they didn't," Zydane replied. "We lost them, but I have a feeling they're still out there. I want people to be on patrol tonight. I'm thinking four groups of two, one group for each of the compass points."  
  
Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, and instantly there were eight volunteers.  
  
"I want to go," Alexia said, grabbing up her helmet, but Zydane snatched it away.  
  
"No, you and Kurt are not going," he told her. "You're going to stay here. You're our best weapon of defense, and if they do get here, you're our only hope of keeping the little ones safe."  
  
Alexia furrowed her brow. "What about you? You can't go! You're important for defense too!"  
  
"Neither of you will go. We have the eight volunteers, so it's not really necessary for you guys to fight. Beside, Alexia, if you got hurt, not only would mom have a fit, she'd kill Zydane, and then we'd be lacking both of you," Luke said, stopping the fight before it got started. "I'll handle the communication between the groups for the night. You three should go upstairs and crash. I have a bad feeling nothing good is gonna happen tomorrow."  
  
To Kurt's surprise, neither Zydane nor Alexia argued Luke's instructions. Instead, Alexia took Kurt's arm and the three of them headed up stairs.  
  
Zydane smiled sheepishly. "We're going to all have to share the big master bed...some of the pyro kids had an accident with a few of their mattresses, so we're short a few beds."  
  
Kurt blinked in surprise. "Ve'll be sleeping in the same bed?"  
  
Zydane nodded. "Yeah. I know it's not the most comfortable idea, but we trust each other, and we're all friends."  
  
Alexia said nothing, and when they reached the room, she just kicked off her shoes and collapsed in the middle of the large bed. In an instant she was sleeping peacefully.  
  
Zydane shrugged. "Looks like you have your choice. Right side or left?"  
  
"Ummm...right I guess...there's not much difference, it there?"  
  
Zydane grinned. "Not really, except for the fact Alex kicks in her sleep."  
  
"Unt how vould you know this?" Kurt asked as he took off his top shirt.  
  
"She's been my best friend for six years. I'm supposed to know these things," Zydane said, and then yelped in surprise as Kurt turned off his image inducer with out thinking.  
  
"You really are blue!" Zydane breathed, examining the young mutant.  
  
Kurt blushed. "You thought that Alexia vas lying?"  
  
"Well, no, normally we say someone's blue when we mean they're really rich, you know, blue-blooded...she probably did clarify, I just didn't hear her. I do like the tail though, it's a nice touch." He kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed beside Alexia. She stirred and opened her eyes.  
  
"Where's Kurt?" she mumbled sleepily.  
  
"I'm right here," Kurt said, turning off the light and lying down on the other side.  
  
"That's good," Alexia yawned, and her eyes closed again.  
  
Kurt stared into the darkness for a while, unable to sleep, when Zydane's voice sounded over Alexia's sleeping form. "Can you turn out your eyes? They're glowing yellow, and they are kind of freaking me out."  
  
"Sorry," Kurt whispered. "I just can't sleep."  
  
"You wondering about that chase earlier tonight, too?" Zydane asked, sitting up slowly. Alexia stirred again, and moved so her head was on Zydane's lap. He didn't even seem to notice very much, and began to stroke her hair absent-mindedly.  
  
"Ja. It seems funny how they shot at you vhen they gave no other varning. Unt I vould think they vould have shot at Alexia vhen she vas standing through the moon roof."  
  
Zydane nodded. "Exactly. And I've never seen that many vehicles up here at one time before. Not at night anyway. It doesn't make any sense. I mean, today was kind of weird. Almost running into that black car, seeing that man just walking along that road up here, that chase...it's like some weird dream that doesn't make sense and won't until the morning."  
  
"The patrol groups will contact us if they find anything out of the ordinary, right?" Kurt asked, sleep finally starting to come over him.  
  
"Yeah," Zydane told him. "Good night, Kurt."  
  
"Good night," Kurt mumbled as he slipped into sleep. 


	9. Blood Loss

***  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my characters.  
  
***  
  
A/N: Okay, this story is starting to slip into an AU that mixes the movie universe with the Evo universe. I was planning it like that, so kudos to the people who like it.  
  
Also, this Chapter contains a lot of blood (just in case you couldn't tell from the title). So if you don't really like that stuff, then heads up.  
  
~~.~~ denotes a dream  
  
* . * denotes thought (sorry I didn't follow that in the last couple of chapters.)  
  
On with the story.  
  
--EBTS  
  
***  
  
~~ It was getting darker, that much Alexia knew. The shadows were getting longer now, and something in the back of her head whispered that she and Zydane should head home. She shrugged the feeling off, silently scolding herself for being so cautious. But as she did so, she watched as Zydane took a curve to fast on the road ahead of her, his bike falling over, him leaping off of it and crashing headlong and helmet-less into the bushes along side the road. She knew he was alive, and he was, but he had a bad gash along his arm and he was bleeding from somewhere on his scalp. There was blood everywhere, all over him, and there was blood on her hands...They had to tell their parents.  
  
Suddenly, they weren't in the woods anymore. In fact, Zydane had vanished altogether, and Alexia was standing in the basement of her family's house, listening as her father screamed at her for being foolish enough to let Zydane ride without his helmet. She was scared, and her father's shouting only distressed her more. She felt the little turrets spinning about her, running into her, begging her to play. Once again the voice in the back of her head whispered that she should be careful and not give into the little tornadoes. She ignored it, her mind set on only getting her father to stop shouting at her. She felt the heat course through her bloodied hands and out, but instead of the light that she remembered, it was blood flowing from her hands, hot blood. The blood connected with both her father and the furnace, and both were engulfed in blood red flame.  
  
Then everything went dark. Alexia knew where she would be when she woke up this time - she would be in the hospital, everyone wondering how she had survived the blast. But when she opened her eyes, no, she wasn't in the hospital, she was in an ugly metal room and she was strapped down to a table. A needle neared her and she started to scream, beg them not to give her the shot, that she didn't want the shot. They ignored her, and plunged the needle into her temple as she screamed again. ~~  
  
Alexia screamed and shot up off her pillow, sweat pouring down her face. Kurt and Zydane's eyes flew open at the sudden scream and stared at Alexia - who was now sitting on the bed staring straight ahead, trying to calm herself while tears streamed down her face - not quite sure what to do.  
  
Kurt sat up and put his arm around her shoulder and rubbed her arm. "It's alright, it vas only a dream."  
  
Alexia's tears began to stream out faster and she broke down completely, crumpling into Kurt, wadding his shirt in her hands. Her body racked with sobs.  
  
"Shh, it's ok, ve're here," Kurt whispered, wrapping his arms around her and stroking her hair.  
  
Zydane sat up, reached over and rubbed Alexia's back. "It's okay kiddo, you're safe. Nothing's going to hurt you. You're alright. God's here, He'll protect you."  
  
Alexia's sobs slowly subsided, but she didn't stop shaking. Kurt and Zydane continued to try to calm her down, and after a while, even her shaking stopped, but she refused to stop clinging to Kurt. The dream had scared her half to death, the boys could see.  
  
"Alex, what happened in the dream?" Zydane asked gently, once he was sure she wouldn't break down bawling.  
  
She shrugged, and said nothing. She simply buried her face into Kurt's shoulder.  
  
"What does a shrug mean Alexia? Come on, you can tell us. It'll make you feel better." Zydane only used her full name when he was distressed, and Alexia felt a little guilty for making him worry   
  
Alexia mumbled something into Kurt's shirt.  
  
Zydane looked questioningly at the fuzzy mutant who shrugged with his eyebrows and then bent his head to her ear. "Vhat did you say?"  
  
She moved her head a little and looked up at the two with blood shot eyes. "I don't know. I never remember the dream. All I know is there's a lot of blood." She shifted so that she was leaning back against Kurt, still clinging to his shirt with her hand.  
  
"You've had this dream before? Vhy didn't you tell me?" Kurt asked.  
  
Alexia shrugged and rubbed her eye. "I know I've had it before, like a lot...but I never remember what it is after I wake up. It normally isn't all that horrible, like I wake up, but not screaming."  
  
Zydane reached over and gently began to pry her hand off of Kurt's shirt. Her knuckles were white. "Then why did you this time?" he asked. "Are Kurt and I that scary?"  
  
Alexia shook her head, not responding to the joke. "No. There was a new part to it...but I don't remember that either...but I remember a feeling here." She put a finger to her temple. "I don't remember what it was though..."  
  
Zydane glanced over at the clock. It blared 2:30 in red letters, and he hoped Alexia could fall asleep again. Turning attention back to Kurt and Alex, he saw that she was already yawning, even though he could tell she not yet totally calmed down. "Com'n kiddo. You try to go back to sleep, alright? Kurt and I are right here, you're gonna be fine."  
  
Alexia shrugged but didn't protest when Zydane gently moved her - practically lifting her - off Kurt and back onto the pillow. She curled in to a ball, and closed her eyes. Kurt had a feeling that she wouldn't sleep very much, but he didn't see what they could really do about it.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Alexia lay awake in the bed, listening to Zydane and Kurt breathing on either side of her. Something was wrong, she could sense it, but she didn't know what. Restless, she sat up and crawled to the foot of the bed. Getting up, she walked to the window and looked outside up at the moon. I was almost full, and shown brightly, but most of the light that came in through the window was from the light on the side of the garage.  
  
As she stood there, looking into the night, a flash of movement on the ground caught her eye. She glanced down at the drive way and her eyes widened in fright. There, across the driveway, right at the edge of the woods, was someone. She couldn't see anymore than the outline, but she knew it wasn't one of the kids from the Bungalow. She blinked and shook her head, and when she looked back, the person was gone.  
  
* Am I seeing things? * She wondered as she stared fearfully down at the spot where the figure had been. She watched the tree line for a long time, but nothing else showed up. After a while, the sky began to lighten, and Alexia knew dawn was not far off.  
  
As she stood there, she heard feet padding down the hall towards the room. Alexia looked up to find Luke entering the room, his face in a worried expression. "Zydane, wake up! We have a problem!"  
  
Zydane sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Where's Alex?" he asked sleepily.  
  
"Right here," Alexia said, but Luke had ignored the question.  
  
"We've lost contact with the scouts," Luke told Zydane. "I can't get a sound from them - not even static."  
  
Zydane was awake instantly. "What do you mean 'lost contact'?" he demanded, leaping off the bed. "Since when?"  
  
"Around three. They just started missing their check in times, then all the radios went dead."  
  
Alexia's eyes traveled between her brother and best friend. They both were scared, and that frightened her more than the news itself.  
  
"Maybe you're on the wrong frequency," she suggested desperately. Luke shook his head.  
  
Zydane cursed under his breath and reached over and tugged on Kurt's tail, waking him up. "We got to go. The scouts are gone, and we need to get the younger kids to safety."  
  
"How're we gonna do that?" Alexia asked.  
  
"We didn't teach these kids to ride for nothing. We'll escort them almost all the way to town, then they can handle themselves. They know where the safe house is."  
  
Everyone nodded at Zydane's instructions. He was the ringleader of sorts, though Luke was actually older.  
  
Alexia padded down the hall, opening doors, turning on bedroom lights, and telling the little kids inside to wake up and get dressed.  
  
They weren't really little kids, Alexia knew, in fact, a few were taller than her, even though they were four or more years younger than her. But they still acted like little children. Some of the older kids whined more than the little ones. Finally fed up with arguing with one boy, she slammed her hand on the top of the dresser and shouted, "If you don't get up NOW, then I'll burn all your hair off your head!" The boy's eyes went wide and he immediately got out of bed.  
  
Once all the kids were downstairs, Zydane took charge again. "Alright! Listen up! You all are going to the safe house. We're going together, we are not splitting up. I know that's not how we practice, but it's the only way we can be sure you get there safely. Someone will have to use Luke's wheeler so we'll have enough for all you guys. Once we reach the point where we leave you, I want Josh Tambor to take over. Understand?"  
  
The little ones all nodded, scared half to death, but as they all filed out and got onto their dirt bikes and four-wheelers, they were surprisingly calm. Alexia could see why - Zydane hadn't told them any of the reasons why they were doing this, most of them had probably convinced themselves that nothing was wrong, and that this was just a drill.  
  
Alexia climbed onto her own bike, and motioned for Kurt to get on as well. He did, wrapping his arms and his tail around her waist, and a little rush went through her.  
  
Once Zydane and Luke were on Zydane's bike, Zydane gave the signal, and everyone took off. Alexia stayed at the back of the pack. The group of off- road vehicles was moving at a quick but prudent pace, and after about ten minutes, they had reached the place where they broke off. Zydane stopped his bike and waved everyone on, nodding as Josh took the lead.  
  
Alexia hoped that that wouldn't be the last time she ever saw her little brother.  
  
"Alright, we have to go see if we can find the scouts, or some sign of them," Zydane said, pulling her out of her stupor. "I don't like how they just disappeared."  
  
"Vhat if ve run into those people that attacked us last night?" Kurt shouted above the din as they headed back down the road.  
  
Alexia shrugged, not bothering to answer him because she knew he wouldn't hear her. She hoped to God that they wouldn't run into the people.  
  
They began to trace the patrol routes that the scouts had been using. The early morning sun shone through the trees, casting a surreal light on everything. As the search dragged on, and no sign of the scouts was found, Alexia's anxiety began to rise. Glancing to her left, she noticed a large brown stain on the ground, near the ditch. Panic swept over her.  
  
"Zydane! Stop!" She screamed, pulling herself to a stop and leaping off her bike.  
  
Zydane had heard the horrified cries over his bike, stopped and turned to see Alexia kneeling beside the stain. "Oh no..." He looked around while Alexia examined the stain. She gingerly touched the spot, and moaned.  
  
"It's still wet...It smells like blood..." She murmured.  
  
Zydane nodded and pointed to a trail the same color as the stain that led into the under brush. "Stay here. I'll go."  
  
He stepped into the woods and followed the trail for about fifty feet. It was darker under the trees, but the blood trail was so dark it was easy to follow. The trail led him behind a tree, and there, staring up at him with blank, lifeless eyes, was David, the boy who had been the scout for the party the night before. Half of his face was covered in blood, and there was a large red stain on the front of his shirt.  
  
Zydane felt his stomach drop a hundred feet. * Oh God, no...not this...please don't let this be the fate of the others, * his mind pleaded as he tried to force his eyes to look away from the dead boy.  
  
"Zydane? What's back there?" Alexia's voice came with the crashing of under brush. "Are you ok?"  
  
In a protective, impulsive move, Zydane whipped around, met Alexia before she got to the tree, picked her up and carried her away from David's body. "You're not going to see it. You shouldn't." He realized that he was shaking.  
  
"Hey! Put me down Zy! What the heck is wrong with you? What's back there??" Alexia struggled against Zydane, who just walked faster.  
  
Stepping out of the trees, Zydane put Alexia down, and gave her a look that told her not to go back there. Alexia's face gave way that she figured someone was hurt pretty badly, but she didn't really know what happened.  
  
"We need to find the others," Zydane ordered, and the others nodded and got on the bikes again.  
  
They searched the roads, and found other signs that something had happened to the scouts, but nothing like a pool of blood. Instead, they found the scouts' four wheelers abandoned on the road, or lying in the ditch. There was blood, but not nearly as much as David had left. Near all the abandoned four-wheelers, they found skid marks from cars.  
  
* This is crazy, * Alexia thought. * Why would anyone want to do this to us? *  
  
She and Kurt were sitting on her bike watching Luke and Zydane examine the four-wheeler that they had just found, sitting at the side of the road. One of the tires was flat, and since there were other signs of bullets, she had a feeling it had been shot.  
  
Hearing the sound of a vehicle down the road, both she and Kurt turned their heads. It was a black car, just like the one Zydane had almost hit the day before, except this one had a man squeezing himself out of the window, fiddling with something long in his hands.  
  
She started up her bike. "We have company."  
  
Zydane and Luke looked up, then made a mad dash to their bike. "There's only one," Zydane shouted. "Split up, you take this next road on the left, I'll go straight, we meet at the cemetery, right?"  
  
Alexia nodded and charged off, Kurt clinging to her, fighting to keep his balance on the speeding bike.  
  
**** Please R&R, and tell me if I need to change the rating on this story (it's PG right now)  
  
Check back in about 5 days for the next chappie  
  
--EBTS  
  
I'm surprised that Luke, with his understanding of mutants thought his work at Zydane's bungalow, couldn't engender more understanding among the rest of the members of Alexia's family. Then again, maybe he tried and they just couldn't accept what she was. (Maybe that could be explored?)  
  
Tell me what you think, and if the scene when they find David  
should change the rating of this story from PG to PG-13, or  
higher. It's definitely getting intense. More like the movie and less like the cartoon. It's good.  
  
Ps--could you suggest a title for this chapter? :)  
  
How about "Blood Loss"? You have the blood from David and from Alexia's dream. You have the loss of the bungalow and the loss of the scouts. 


	10. Authors Note

A/N  
  
Hey all! I'm glad you like the story so far. I'm changing the rating of this story from PG to PG-13 because of all the blood and the dead body in chapter nine, the violence and death in this next chapter, and more violence later in this story.  
  
Also, please R&R. If you're confused about something, or you just wanna flame someon'es work, I'm open to all suggestions.  
  
Ok, that's about it, just wanted to give y'all a heads up.  
  
--EBTS 


	11. No Way Out Except

*** Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or any characters related to them. I do however own Alexia Tambor, Luke Tambor, and Zydane Maylor. ***  
  
*.. * are toughts ***  
  
*Go, go, go! * Alexia willed her bike to go faster as she tried to escape the car. Even though she had left before Zydane, and had turned instead of going straight, the car had followed her. *What the heck do these people want? Why are they after us? What did we do? *  
  
Kurt hugged her tightly around the waist, making it uncomfortable to breathe. Taking one hand off the handlebars, she tried to loosen his grip. He seemed very reluctant to do so, and just hugged her tighter. She struggled to move his arms, and finally she managed to do so by shoving her hand between her side and his arm and used it like a crow bar to pry his arms away a little. His grip loosened, but was still fairly tight.  
  
Alexia made a bold move by taking her eyes off the road and glancing behind them around Kurt's body. The car was still following, gaining on them. It was no more than a hundred feet behind them. The man was no longer leaning out the window, but Alexia knew that if they caught up with her and Kurt, that they would use the gun.  
  
Thinking quickly, Alexia turned onto a snowmobile trail road that she and her friends used as a short cut to the cemetery. The car wouldn't be able to follow, and perhaps she would be able to loose it.  
  
Tree branches whipped at her head and more than once she had to duck to avoid having her head taken off. Sunlight filtered through the trees brighter than it had when they had left the Bungalow earlier that morning. She wondered how it was possible that twenty-four hours before her only concern was when Zydane would be done with work so she would be able to go trailing. She had had enough trailing in the past twelve hours to satisfy her for the next twelve years.  
  
Alexia's bike finally broke through the line of trees and into the clearing where the cemetery was. There was a road across the cemetery from where they had entered, and she drove her bike across the unkempt area next to a large tombstone at the front of the cemetery. She parked her dirt bike and motioned for Kurt to get off the bike. He did so, and she swung off herself and pried off her helmet.  
  
"What time is it?" she asked, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.  
  
Kurt looked at his watch. "9:15. Ve left the bungalow at five thirty or so this morning."  
  
Alexia nodded. "What are we going to do, Kurt? These people are out to kill us...I bet that's what Zydane saw in the woods...I bet someone was dead, and he didn't want me to see."  
  
"Who vould vant to hurt you all? Vhat did you ever do to anybody?"  
  
"I don't know, Kurt. I wish I did. People can be so dumb sometimes." Her ears pricked up as the sound of a motor reached them. She quickly pushed her bike behind the huge headstone and then ducked in the tall grass behind it herself, pulling Kurt down with her.  
  
The motor sound got louder, and Alexia peered out of their hiding stop to see who it was. She sighed, relieved, when she saw it was Zydane and Luke, and stood and waved at them.  
  
Zydane pulled up next to the tombstone and parked, but did not turn off his bike. He shoved the visor on his helmet up and Alexia saw fear in his eyes. "There are more! They came outta nowhere and followed us. I couldn't get them off my tail. I think I lost them finally, but not for long. We have to get out of here."  
  
"Too late," Luke said grimly. "Listen."  
  
They stretched their ears, and at first they didn't hear anything but only a few moments later, Alexia could hear a high-power car engine heading towards them. She pulled on her helmet and jumped onto her bike, followed by Kurt, and desperately started her bike, giving it as much throttle as possible as soon as it had started, and headed for the snowmobile trail.  
  
Before they reached the trail, two motorcycles appeared at its mouth, blocking her progress.   
  
Alexia slammed her bike into a hard right turn, trying to avoid the motor and just barely missed crashing her bike into a tombstone. Zydane had already turned and was heading to the main entrance, but a car and a few more motorcycles blocked that exit as well.  
  
Alexia's heart thumped hard against her rib cage. Their escape routes were both cut off, and their captors had guns.   
  
Alexia stopped her bike halfway through the cemetery. Behind her were the motorcycles on the trail, and in front of her were the cars on the road.  
  
"HALT! TURN OFF YOUR VEHICLES OR SOMEONE GETS HURT!" shouted a man that had gotten out of the car and was aiming a gun at Zydane, who had pulled up next to Alexia. The teenagers exchanged glances, and out of the corner of her eye, Alexia saw several more guns raised and cocked. She turned off her bike, and Zydane followed suit.  
  
"GET OFF YOUR VEHICLES AND KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM! PASSENGERS FIRST!"  
  
Kurt and Luke carefully dismounted, breathing hard and nervously. They raised their hands above their heads, keeping their helmets on.  
  
The man then ordered Alexia and Zydane to dismount, and they complied.  
  
"REMOVE YOUR HELMETS!"  
  
Alexia yanked off her helmet and immediately was aware of all the energy racing around her head. Her nerves caused her to become a bigger conductor of the energy, and she felt the air around her grow cold.  
  
The guns stayed pointed at them as another man got out of one of the cars and began to walk towards them. He was tall, with crew cut hair and piercing blue eyes...  
  
Alexia jerked when she realized that this was the man she had given directions to the day before on the road. She had known he hadn't been out for just a casual walk.  
  
As he approached them she made a move to throw her helmet at him, but he was a quick study and said instantly, "I wouldn't throw that if I were you, Miss Tambor. I understand you have a deep affection for all three young men here. It would be very traumatic for you were they to die because of a single reckless act from you."  
  
Alexia stopped in mid-movement and allowed her arm to drop. Her brain was moving fast, and she could tell from Zydane's body language that his mind was racing too.  
  
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice more violent than she intended. "What do you want with us?"  
  
"I am Lieutenant Lewis, and I don't want anything from you. In fact, I don't want all of you," he said, stopping about ten feet away from them. "Just you, Miss Tambor...my orders are to retrieve you, Mutant 777, by way of any means."  
  
"You're not getting her," Zydane hissed through clenched teeth. "Over my dead body."  
  
Lewis smiled. "Oh, but you see, we know that your body is only useful to us if you're alive." He turned to Alexia as all the guns shifted, aimed right at Zydane. "Either come quietly, or this will be your beloved Zy's permanent resting place."  
  
"You wouldn't dare," Alexia growled, hiding her fear exceptionally well with anger and defiance.  
  
"No?" Lewis asked, smiling benignly. "Elstore, show her we mean business."  
  
A shot rang out from behind Alexia and Luke suddenly fell to the ground, crying out in pain and clutching at his right shoulder.  
  
Alexia's eyes went wide. Her brother had just been shot. They had just shot her brother. He was bleeding, and she saw tears rolling down his cheeks for the first time since their father had died. *This can't be happening,* she thought.  
  
"Unless you would like a further example of our seriousness, I advise you to comply."  
  
Alexia's head wasn't working straight. Her terror and anger was welling up inside her, both fueled by and fueling the energy that was pent up inside her. Even so, in the midst of that chaos, she had an idea.  
  
"Okay, okay," she said quickly, her voice shaking from what sounded like fear but was really the effort of controlling the energy. "I'll go with you, just don't hurt my friends."  
  
"Good decision," Lewis said with a smile as two other soldiers came up and escorted her away from her friends.  
  
She looked over her shoulder at Zydane, and flicked her eyebrows a couple of times, the usual sign that she was going to use her powers. Zydane's face was confused for a few moments, and then his eyes went wide, and he repeated the gesture, saying that he'd use his powers as well.  
  
Half way across the cemetery, Alexia gathered up all the energy she could hold, allowed it to fill her hands, and then screamed "NOW ZYDANE!" as she aimed one hand forward at the cars, and one hand behind her, willing the energy to flow to the men at the mouth of the snowmobile trail.  
  
Her veins were on fire, as were her hands, energy flowing madly through her body and out. It hit the car, and instantly the vehicle burst into a shower of flames and scrap metal. She could feel the ecstasy of the heat and the light twisting and blowing about her, but she was loosing it, it was getting weaker, and so were her knees. Now there was no fire in her veins or extreme pleasure around her, only a burning, pounding sensation in her hands, and a dizziness in her head. She sank to her knees as the world became a blur. Something foul smelling was smoldering on either side of her, and there was a large fire ball somewhere in front of her, but her eyes wouldn't focus, and she was more interested in sleep at the moment to really care about any type of energy. The darkness beckoned her, and she willingly allowed it to take over her brain  
  
-------------------------------  
  
As soon as Alexia had screamed his name, Zydane kicked his power into high gear, forming an invisible dome-shaped shield around himself, Luke, Kurt, and the dirt bikes. He watched as blinding light shot from Alexia's hands and filled the area around the cars in front of them. The cars exploded, and the people standing around them were engulfed in the flames. The men on either side of Alexia were caught in a seeming overflow of energy, and Zydane had to close his eyes so that he wouldn't loose his concentration on the shield by watching them burn. A stream of energy had also fired from her other hand and had twisted through the air, hitting the motorcycles behind them, with similar results. The boys were protected by Zydane's force field, but he was quickly being drained of his own energy by trying to uphold it, and so he was thankful when Alexia finally collapsed to her knees and stopped releasing energy.  
  
Zydane let the force field down and raced over to where Alexia had just fallen over onto her side.  
  
"Alex!" he cried, rolling the girl over, trying to ignore the charred remains on either side of her. "Alex! Wake up! Are you ok?"  
  
Alexia was unconscious, but after a few short, sharp slaps on the cheek, she came around. "Uhhhnn...Zydane? Wha...Is Luke alright?" she tried to sit up, but Zydane could see that she was too weak.  
  
"Shhh. He's still alive, but he's bleeding pretty badly. We need to get him to the hospital."  
  
Alexia's eyes were open all the way now, and could tell from the temperature in the air around him that she was using her powers again already to supply herself with energy.  
  
She shook her head. "We can't go to the hospital, too much explanation would be needed." She pushed herself to a sitting position awkwardly, using the backs of her hands because her palms were red and blistering. "We need to go back to the Institute. They're after me, and that's the only place I'd be safe. And we have an infirmary there. I think I could cauterize his wound so that it won't bleed." She added after a moment's thought.  
  
"You shouldn't use your powers, Alex. You're too weak."  
  
"Weak, shmeak," she said, standing and walking over the where Kurt was crouched next to Luke, oblivious to the destruction around her. "The only reason people get weak is because they loose energy. I don't have to get weak if I don't want to."  
  
"I think the bullet came out," Kurt said, pointing to Luke's shoulder.  
  
Zydane nodded. There was a hole on either side of Luke's shirt, and both were surrounded by dark blood. Either Luke had been lucky and the bullet had only passed through his flesh, or it had gone right through a bone.   
  
"Luke, I'm going to make the bleeding stop so that you can come with us to the Institute. Just hold still."  
  
Luke nodded, his face white from both pain and the loose of blood. Alexia carefully put one hand on either side of his shoulder, leaving about an inch of space between each hand and the shoulder. A bright white filled the spaces left, and Luke cried out at the heat. But Alexia was done very quickly, and when she pulled away, Luke could see the wound had a thick scab or protective coating over it. It wasn't bleeding.  
  
Luke rested for a few minutes, and then struggled to his feet. He had lost a fair amount of blood, but he would be better for now.  
  
"I think I can hang onto to you on the bike, Zydane," he said, gingerly flexing his arms to see how well his shoulder could take it.  
  
"We have to risk it," Alexia said before Zydane could argue the illogic of the plan. "It's only a three hour drive or so to the mansion. And the farther we get before we absolutely need help, the better."  
  
"Ve already need absolute help," Kurt mumbled, and winced when Alexia threw him a dirty look. "Vell, ve do!" 


	12. Medic!

*** Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or other related characters. I only own Alexia Tambor, Luke Tambor, and Zydane Maylor (and any other Characters related to them, that are not included in the X-men cast.if that makes any sense.) ***  
  
*.* is a thought  
  
A/N not too much action in this chappie, but as my friend Pete says, it can't all be high-speed chase scenes.  
  
Also, I'd like to thank Pete for editing this story for me, as well as suggesting little nuances that could happen in the plot and ways to develop the characters. Where would I be with out him?.Probably the State Hospital ^_^  
  
On with the story. ***  
  
It was almost four hours later when the two dirt bikes pulled up to the gate that led to the Mansion grounds. The painful blisters on Alexia's hands had opened and oozed and were beginning to crust over. The pain had been there so long, she had almost forgotten it, but when she peeled her right hand off the handle bar to punch in the code that opened the gate, she had a nasty reminder.  
  
Luke had survived the long trip, though he was getting weaker by the minute from the pain and the effort of hanging onto Zydane. All Alexia could think about was getting her brother into the infirmary. Nothing else mattered to her.  
  
"Kurt, what's the gate code?" she asked, her mind still slightly spinning from her violent use of power earlier in the day.  
  
"Ach...I think it's four-eight-two-one-six," he answered.  
  
Alexia hit the numbers on the panel and the door began to swing open. Alexia led Zydane up the drive way as fast as she could.  
  
The other students had been out front, playing frisbee on the huge expanse of the lawn, but the game stopped in mid-throw when they spotted the strange vehicles.  
  
Alexia parked her bike and ripped off her helmet, causing a sharp pain in her scalp. "Jean! Tell the Professor I need help, my brother needs medical attention!"  
  
The red-haired girl holding the frisbee nodded and closed her eyes.  
  
While Kurt and Zydane helped Luke off the bike, Alexia hurried up the stairs to open the door of the mansion. Before she could reach it, the door swung open to reveal a very unhappy Logan.  
  
"And where have you been?" he snarled at her.  
  
"Kurt and I went to visit Zydane and Luke and."  
  
"And who told you you could go? You didn't tell anyone! Really smart, kid, what if something happened to you or Kurt, no one knew where you were. We couldn't even pick you up on Cerebro. What ever gave you..."  
  
"LOGAN! Later! My brother got shot, and he's in bad shape," Alexia shouted, not really in the mood to be lectured.  
  
Logan's face changed entirely. "What do you mean shot?"  
  
"It's something you do with a gun," Zydane piped up. "You know, you eject a bullet at high speeds and watch it rip through something." He was practically carrying Luke up the stairs.  
  
Logan stared at the wounded young man for a moment, and then turned to Kurt. "Elf, take him down to the infirmary. Hank'll be there soon."  
  
Kurt nodded, took Luke from Zydane and disappeared with him in a cloud of sulfuric smoke. Zydane blinked in surprise and looked, slightly confused, over at Alexia. She decided that it would be better to deal with Logan instead of Zydane at the moment, since Logan was fuming again.  
  
"Logan, seriously, can this please wait till later?" Alexia said quietly, barely able to hear herself over his voice.  
  
Logan narrowed his eyes. "Sure. You're in trouble whether I yell at you or not," he told her, but he was quiet after that.  
  
Alexia rolled her eyes and took Zydane's arm in her free hand and led him inside past Logan who was still glaring.  
  
Professor Xavier was just coming around the corner in his wheelchair with Ororo following him. He did not look all that happy, but he seemed to be suppressing his habit of lecturing for the moment. "Your brother is in the infirmary, Alexia. Dr. McCoy says he will be fine, and that your cauterizing technique could have saved his life. Right now, Hank is stitching Luke up, so you cannot visit for a few hours. If you both would accompany me to my office, I would like to talk to you about what happened over the past few hours."  
  
Alexia nodded, and motioned for Zydane to follow her and the Professor. They headed into the Professor's comfortably furnished office, and they sat down in two chairs across the desk from where Xavier positioned his wheelchair. Ororo brought the two young people glasses of water, and then left the room, closing the door behind her.  
  
Alexia settled back into the chair. She was relieved to hear that Luke was going to be fine, but now dread was growing inside of her with the idea of having to retell of the horrors of the past twelve hours. Zydane was tense as well - she could see it by the way he looked around the room at anything but the professor.  
  
"Alexia, you haven't introduced me to your friend here," Professor Xavier said after a few moments.  
  
"Oh, yeah, heh, sorry," Alexia stuttered, surprised that he hadn't just launched into a stream of questions. "Professor Xavier, this is Zydane Maylor, my best friend. Zydane, this is the Professor."  
  
The two men shook hands, and the tension in the room seemed to ease a little.  
  
"Now, Alexia, I want you to tell me everything that happened while you were gone, starting from the moment you arrived in Chanceton until you returned here to the Institute. Mr. Maylor, you may jump in at anytime to add anything you see fit." The Professor then turned his eyes on Alexia and stared at her expectantly.  
  
Alexia took a deep breath, and started to tell the story. It was easy at first, telling about getting to Chanceton, going to the garage to hang out while Zydane worked, almost getting hit by a car on the way to the Bungalow, trailing, the man on the road. It started to get difficult when she began to tell about their little burn-fest. The Professor had often told her that her power was not a toy and that it wasn't to be played with, but she had defied that teaching. She told him about the chase from the rock quarry, her nightmare, and seeing the man outside in the line of trees across the driveway, then the loss of the contact with the scouts, and the getting the younger kids to safety, and then the search for the scouts.  
  
"Did you find any of them?" Xavier asked.  
  
Alexia began to shake her head, but Zydane spoke up. "Yeah, I found one. Our scout at the quarry, David...they killed him. He was hidden in the brush..."  
  
Alexia took a deep breath in. She hadn't really believed that Zydane had found a dead body. She suddenly felt very sick to her stomach. She cast an ill look at Zydane and he picked up on the story. "Then the people came back, and they cornered us in a cemetery, and they said they were after Alexia. They shot Luke to make her come with them, or they'd shoot me and Kurt too. She used her powers to get us out of there alive."  
  
Hearing the story all over again was making Alexia feel slightly dizzy, and her stomach felt worse.  
  
Professor Xavier's face turned into a frown. "What do you mean they were after Alexia?"  
  
"That's what they said - they only wanted Alexia. They called her Mutant 777, like that was her title," Zydane explained, not sure what to tell him.  
  
"And how did Alexia use her powers to keep them from following you?"  
  
Zydane described the scene of the brilliant white light shooting from her hands, the car blowing up, and the men beside her incinerating. At the description of the men bursting into flame and writhing on the ground, Alexia couldn't control her body. In one last-ditch effort, she lunged at the near-by garbage can and vomited violently into it. Her stomach was empty, but her body still convulsed, and the sour taste swept through her mouth, but it wasn't enough to get her mind off of what Zydane was saying.  
  
If he was right, she had killed almost a dozen men, and hadn't realized it until just now.  
  
"Alex? Are you OK?" Zydane asked, alarmed by her sudden sickness.  
  
"She's suffering a type of shock," Professor Xavier told him, wheeling his chair over to where Alexia was now kneeling beside the can, her convulsions subsiding. He noticed a strange shadow running down the back of Alexia's neck, almost as though it was the shadow of her braid, but it did not bend with the braid. "Alexia, what is on the back of your neck?" he asked, moving her hair. What he had thought was a shadow wasn't. Instead, it was a line of blood that was flowing from somewhere in her hair. "How did you get wounded, Alexia?"  
  
The girl reached to the top of her head with a shaking hand and felt around, until she touched a spot that hurt so much it nearly made her vomit again. She pulled her hand away to find her fingertips covered in blood. "I don't know," she said, a bit shocked.  
  
The Professor frowned. "I'm afraid I cannot give you your punishment at the moment, since you are suffering shock, as well as a head wound. I want you and Zydane to go down to the infirmary to get checked for any other injuries you may have sustained. Once you are done there, I want you to go straight to bed and sleep, understand?"  
  
"Yes, Professor," Alexia said with a nod, and she got up and motioned Zydane to follow her.  
  
----------------------------  
  
"My, you certainly have a way of getting yourself into the thick of it, don't you Miss Alexia?" Dr. Hank McCoy asked as he examined Alexia's hands. She winced in pain as the large, blue-furred, gorilla-looking mutant applied disinfectant and then wrapped her hands with gauze and bandages.  
  
"What do you mean by that, Dr. McCoy?" she asked as she shook her hands vigorously, trying to ease the pain. Sadly, due to Murphy's Law, the effort only accented the pain more.   
  
"Well, you are quite possibly the only teenage girl I know who finds pleasure in reeking havoc amongst her fellow students. Such as the time you placed ants in Kitty's underwear drawer..." Hank trailed off, seeing that the memory of Alexia's home made ant farm breaking was doing nothing to cheer her up. "Let me look at your head now."  
  
Alexia undid her braid the best she could without hurting her head too much. Unfortunately for her, even though Hank was a great doctor he didn't really have a subtle way of figuring out if something hurt. He basically felt around until the patient either fainted or punched him from the pain.  
  
"OW! Stop it Hank!" Alexia squealed as his hairy fingers found their way to the bloody spot on her scalp. She squirmed away from him and placed a hand gingerly over her matted and snarled hair to protect it from further assault.  
  
Hank stopped and frowned at the teenager. Xavier had told him that she was suffering from a form of shock and he was starting to agree. Her face was pale, and her hands were shaking. Dark circles were under her eyes, but Hank couldn't tell if that was due to stress or just the lack of sleep the teen tended to suffer from.  
  
"I'm going to give you a pain killer, Alexia. That should help your hands."  
  
Alexia nodded, and took the pill he handed her without protest. He had knowingly neglected to tell her that the pills were not only painkillers but would also knock her out. A few minutes after taking the pills, her eyelids began to droop and she laid down on the table, falling fast asleep.   
  
Once Alexia was asleep, Hank had Ororo help him clean and dry her bloodied, matted hair, and he then wrapped her head around with a bandage.  
  
"Her friend, Zydane is sitting out in the hall waiting to be checked, Hank," Ororo told him once he was done attending to Alexia.  
  
Hank nodded. "Bring him in."  
  
A few minutes later, a tall young man entered the infirmary. Hank remembered seeing him in a picture Alexia had showed him of her friends. His short blond hair looked dirty and was in need of a comb.  
  
"You are Zydane Maylor, I presume?" Hank asked him, motioning for the boy to sit on an examining table.  
  
Zydane nodded and sat, his eyes wide at seeing a person that was even more furry than Kurt. In fact, this person wasn't even furry - he was hairy! And he looked like a gorilla.  
  
"I am Dr. Hank McCoy," the gorilla man was saying. "Tell me, do you feel any pain anywhere?"  
  
Zydane shook his head. "I didn't get hurt or anything..." he trailed off as he noticed Alexia lying motionless on a near by table. "What's wrong with Alex?" he demanded, his face going white.  
  
"Don't worry," Hank told Zydane. "I gave her a sedative so that she could rest, and so that we could tend to the gash on the top of her head without her throwing a fit."  
  
"How did she get a gash on her head?" Zydane asked as Hank examined his eyes.  
  
"I thought you might have some insight in the matter, actually. I found a small piece of metal embedded in the side of her gash. Perhaps she hit her head on a metal shelf?"  
  
"No. She probably got grazed with a piece of shrapnel or something when she was using her powers."  
  
Hank raised his eyebrows. "I see. I never knew that her abilities were that powerful."  
  
Zydane shrugged. "Neither did she, I don't think. Am I gonna live?" he asked as Hank filled out a form.  
  
"Yes, you seem fine. No physical damage, nor do you have a concussion. You are free to go...oh, and can you take Alexia to her room? She should not sleep down here, it would be most beneficial for her state of mind for her to wake up in her room," Hank requested, not looking up from his chart.  
  
"Sure," Zydane agreed, getting up.  
  
He walked over to the other exam table and gently lifted Alexia's still form off it. "Come on, 'Lex. Let's get you somewhere warm, OK?" he murmured in her ear as he cradled her in his arms and carried her out of the infirmary.  
  
It boggled Zydane's mind how light Alexia was, even though she was seventeen. She didn't look light, since her clothes were so big on her they gave the impression that she was bigger than she really was. He remembered carrying her like this a few years back, when they were dating. She had fallen asleep on his mother's couch, so he had carried her over to her house next door instead of wake her up. Back then, Zydane would have given anything to carry Alexia like this. Now it scared him that she was so distressed that a sedative was needed so someone could help her.  
  
*Alas, my love,* Zydane thought as he walked down the hall, *we have both changed, and perhaps that is not as good as I once thought it would be.* 


	13. New Orders

*** Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men, or any rights to using them. I do own Alexia Tambor, Luke Tambor, and Zydane Maylor, though. ***  
  
"You say Lewis failed at his mission?"  
  
"Y-yes sir. Mutant 777 took care of almost the entire group. Only one person survived, Foster, and that's because he took a wrong turn and caught up with the rest of them right after the carnage began."  
  
"And why did Foster not try to detain the girl?"  
  
"Sir, the girl's power is far greater than any of the group suspected. She destroyed the cars and motorcycles, and the men standing around her were incinerated. Foster did not think it would be prudent for him to--"  
  
"PRUDENT? Who does Foster think he is? I'll tell him what's prudent or not."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"And the girl escaped?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Where did she go?"  
  
"We believe she returned to Xavier's school, sir. That is the only place we could imagining her returning to."  
  
"What is the damage toll done to the hideaway in the Catskills...their 'Bungalow'?"  
  
"We captured six younger children whom we have detained before. Also, we captured three new children that all show signs of mutations. One boy was killed because he was using his powers to harm the troops."  
  
"Does Mutant 777 know this?"  
  
"Not all of it sir, not yet. We believe she knows of the boy that was killed, but not of the missing children."  
  
"Of course...She will not be scared for long. According to our records, she bounces back quickly from severe trauma, and she will retaliate if she gets the chance."  
  
"What are our new orders, sir?"  
  
"Study how the mutant children we detained before react to being here once again. And keep an eye on 777's friend, the mutant we just discovered. See if he can be used in anyway to get at her. Continue surveillance of Mutant 315 as well."  
  
"Yes sir, Sergeant Trense."  
  
"Make sure that this girl does not get the upper hand again. The Department of Defense does not like to be kept waiting on research." 


	14. Punishment and Predicament

***  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the X-men, I just obsess over them. I do own the characters of Alexia, Zydane, Luke, and all other OC's.  
  
***  
  
Sorry it's taken me so long to post again, my life's been hectic the past few weeks. I'm leaving for New Orleans on Saturday, but I'll try to post as much as possible by then.  
  
Enjoy and PLEASE R&R!!  
  
--EBTS  
  
***  
  
(Thoughts are represented as *blah*)  
  
***  
  
Alexia stared in horror at the sight before her. She had never thought that a human being would be able to function in such high levels of filthiness, but the bathroom shared by Evan, Bobby, and Jamie was proof that it was possible.  
  
With a sigh, Alexia pulled on her heavy-duty rubber gloves and began to bombard every possible surface with disinfectant.  
  
This was her punishment for leaving the Institute without telling anyone: She had to clean the entire Mansion, top to bottom, for the next two weeks. Even if she finished before the two weeks were up, she still had to maintain the level of cleanliness for the duration of the punishment. Kurt was to help keep the Mansion clean, but she had to do all the really horrible primary work.  
  
She took a sponge out of her bucket of cleaning supplies and began to scrub vigorously at the sink. She had been told that all the sinks were once white, and she was expected to get them that way once again. There were several layers of grime in this sink, and it looked as though its more natural state of being was some where in the dark-gray-going-to-black range. *How can they live like this?* Alexia wondered.  
  
It was three days after she and Kurt had returned to the Institute with Zydane and Luke. She had spent most of the first two days home in her bed asleep. Her hands still had bandages on them, but she could bend her fingers, and Doctor McCoy had given her painkillers to take if the pain from them became too much. Alexia had accepted the painkillers with no real plan on taking them - after all, she had lived without complaining several times after bruising her ribs dirt biking. Pain was nothing new to Alexia, and she had learned how to "suck it up and deal," as Zydane often said.  
  
However, the gash on her scalp was still tender, and she still had a bandage around her entire head, as well as her hands. Several of her classmates had asked her during school earlier in the day what had happened.  
  
"Oh, I just had an accident while I was out dirt biking on Saturday," she had told them. "Silly me, not wearing a helmet or gloves."  
  
*Silly me, not thinking about what I was doing,* Alexia thought as she scrubbed the bathtub. She hated working like this. Not that she didn't like house cleaning - she kind of enjoyed it really. It was how she had earned the money to buy her new dirt bike, and it was how she was planning on putting herself through college. She was actually very fast with cleaning, knowing about how long she had to let certain cleaning agents sit on certain surfaces, and she could fit it together so that she applied all the chemicals, then cleaned them in order. A bathroom in this condition would normally take her around forty minutes, but with her sore hands and throbbing scalp, it took her closer to an hour.   
  
But she wasn't being rewarded at the end of this with a new toy. Instead, she would have a reminder that breaking the rules at the Institute did not go unpunished.  
  
"Hey Alexia, vhat's up?"  
  
Alexia turned and smiled at Kurt who was standing in the doorway. He did not have his image inducer on, and his tail was lashing around playfully behind him.  
  
"Hi Kurt," Alexia greeted him. "What can I do for you?"  
  
Kurt shrugged and leaned against the doorway. "I vould be rescuing you from your time of slavery, but the Professor has forbidden me to do so, under penalty of a vorse punishment than yours."  
  
"What could be worse than cleaning every bathroom in the mansion?" Alexia asked as she finished scrubbing the tub and rinsed it out with the shower.  
  
"Cleaning the X-Jet."  
  
Alexia shuddered at the thought. She had heard about the time Kurt had been under probation and had had to wash the X-Jet and do other menial tasks around the Institute. He often said he still had nightmares about the X- Jet's muddy landing gear.  
  
"Alexia, do you think that you could teach me how to ride a dirt-bike?" Kurt asked after a few moments.  
  
Alexia turned to him, with a puzzled expression on her face. "Why do you want to learn how to ride?"  
  
Kurt shrugged. "Vell, it looks like fun, unt maybe I vould not need Scott to drive me to school if I learned," he said.  
  
"Well, I guess I could teach you, but Zydane would be better at it," Alexia replied, throwing her cleaning supplies back into her bucket. "He taught me after John left home."  
  
"But he von't be here much longer," Kurt told her. "So it vould be better if you taught me."  
  
Alexia looked up at Kurt sharply. "What do you mean, he won't be here much longer?" she hissed.  
  
"He vas talking to Ororo earlier today. She vas asking him about taking classes here, unt he said he vill be leaving in the next few days, so he von't be taking any," Kurt explained, surprised that Alexia did not already know this.  
  
Alexia could not believe what she was hearing. Zydane was planning on leaving, and he hadn't told her yet? How could he do that to her? She was furious with him, for she had thought that now he was at the Institute, he would stay. At least until Alexia was totally over the events of the last weekend, which were not helping her nightmares any. She had been hoping he would have stayed longer than that.  
  
"Kurt, would to be so kind as to go inform Mr. Maylor that when I'm done cleaning at six, I want to have a little tête-à-tête with him?" she seethed, trying to ignore the swirling energy around her.  
  
Kurt nodded vigorously and backed away from the door. "Ja, I'll go tell him right now," he said quickly, and with a *BAMF* and a puff of smoke, he was gone.  
  
Alexia snatched up the bucket off the floor and marched off to the next bathroom, trying to keep tears from running down her cheeks. --------------------------------  
  
At six-fifteen, Zydane approached Alexia's room, knowing what she was upset about, and if he knew her, he was going to have to handle it gently, or face the consequences.  
  
Her bedroom door was open and he stopped at the doorway to watch her for a moment. She was sitting at her desk, her back to the door, scribbling something down on a worksheet. Her left arm hung at her side, and she was flexing her bandaged fingers slowly, wincing every once in a while. She didn't seem all that mad, but Kurt had said she was very upset at the idea of Zydane leaving. He figured that since he couldn't see her face, he would have to go with Kurt's interpretation of her mood. Finally, after a moment of watching her, he knocked on the wall just inside the door.  
  
Alexia turned, and stared at him with an unreadable expression on her face. Then she said, "Just a minute, let me finish my journal entry for French class. Come on in." She turned back to her desk as Zydane flopped down on her bed and played with her stuffed tiger as she dictated to herself what she was writing in her notebook: "Mon ami, Zydane, est juste arrivé, et je dois le tuer maintenant. Merci de l'écoute, et ne répétez pas ce que j'ai dit."  
  
Zydane winced at what he was hearing. He knew French fairly well since he had taken it for three years in high school, and the fact that Alexia was talking very calmly about killing him didn't exactly thrill him.  
  
"They teach you how to discuss murders in language class nowadays?" He joked as she put her books away, careful not to hurt her hands too much. "Back in my day, you were lucky if you left the class knowing how to ask where the bathroom was."  
  
Alexia turned to him, fighting a smile that sparkled in her eyes. She didn't want to be mad at him, but she had to be. "Why are you leaving?" she asked him.  
  
*Leave it to Alex not to beat around the bush,* Zydane thought to himself. "Alex, I have a job. Mr. Patterson will be missing his head mechanic."  
  
Alexia's eyebrows screwed up on her forehead as if she was trying to figure something out. "So why don't you just call Patterson and tell him that he needs to find another mechanic?" she asked.  
  
"It doesn't work that way, Alex," Zydane sighed. "He can't find a new mechanic just like that."  
  
"What about Phil O'Conner, that kid that you used to ride with when you were in High School?"  
  
"Who, you mean Mister-I'm-Going-To-Some-Over-Priced-Ivy-League-School? He wouldn't be caught dead working there. He's got some summer internship thing out in Rome."  
  
"There has to be someone who can fix stuff as well as you can, Zydane," Alexia stated, walking over and leaning against her bedside table. She lifted up a picture of her family and examined it.  
  
Zydane pushed himself up into a sitting position, so that his head was almost level with hers, and looked at her for a long moment before saying anything. He could see desperation was clouding in the back of her eyes, but he didn't know what was causing it. "Alex, I need the money. I need to support myself now. I'm an adult."  
  
"If you stayed here, you wouldn't need money. Professor Xavier takes in anyone who comes and is willing to follow the rules," Alexia argued. "He took me in when no one else wanted me, including you."  
  
Zydane cringed at that. "It's not that I didn't want you Alex. Your mom just wouldn't sign the papers, saying it wouldn't be moral for us to share an apartment. And your mom does want you, Alex. She just doesn't know how to handle you sometimes..." he trailed off as Alexia began to mimic his talking with her hand. He sighed, and returned to his original argument. "Alex, Mr. Patterson needs me at his shop."  
  
"Well, what about me, Zydane?" Alexia cried slamming the picture down so hard on the table that the glass cracked. "Did it ever occur to you that I might need you?"  
  
Zydane felt the air begin to get colder. He had to calm Alex down some how. He looked up at her, confusion covering his face. "Alex, you have everyone here at the Institute. You have Kurt. What do you need me for? I'm a nothing; my only future is fixing dirt-bikes and four-wheelers in Patterson's Shop. If I stayed here, I'd only be holding you back--" He was cut off as Alexia raised her hand and delivered a sharp, painful slap across his face.  
  
Zydane sat there for a moment, stunned. She had only slapped him like that once before, and that was when he was trying to break up with her gently after dating her for almost a year. He had said something that she took in the wrong way and she had left a handprint on his face for three days. His cheek stung, but he knew that Alexia hadn't really wanted to hurt him; he could tell by the way she was whimpering. *This is why your mother can't handle you Alex - you can't control yourself when you get really emotional. And she doesn't understand that your power makes it hard for you to concentrate on what you're doing when you get mad.*  
  
"Don't say that, Zydane," Alexia was whispering in a pleading tone. "You're going to do something really great with your life. You're not a nothing, because if you were a nothing, then I'd be a nothing."  
  
Zydane felt the weight of her statement settle on his shoulders. He wondered if she was drawing from one of her older brother John's favorite sayings, "Birds of a feather flock together" or if it was the Bible verse that told believers not to tie themselves to others that were less mature or didn't share the same dream as themselves. But he knew that she was saying that if he was a nothing, she would have to be a nothing as well to associate with him.  
  
Not knowing what else to do, Zydane handed her the stuffed tiger, which she took and hugged to her chest. Then she did something she hadn't done since several weeks before their break up: she crawled into his lap and huddled against him, resting her bandaged head on her shoulder. "Please don't leave, Zydane," she begged quietly, and then began to cry.  
  
Not knowing what else to do, Zydane wrapped his arms around her and rocked her slowly back and forth.  
  
"I want you to stay Zydane," Alexia said between sniffles and sobs. "I'm scared and my hands hurt and my head hurts. And if you left, then no one would be here that understands me. No one knows how to deal with me, Zy, and I can't exactly tell them. And I don't know what to do now that people are after me. They killed David, Zydane. They killed David because they wanted me, and what if on your way back home, they killed you too? You'd leave me alone again, and that's not what friends do. You're not supposed to leave me behind. You're supposed to stay with me no matter what. Remember what God said? We need to stick together and support each other. Remember? Or has your precious job forced out that memory?"  
  
Zydane hugged the younger girl tighter to him. She was not scared in the same way as she had been from the nightmare she had had at the Bungalow. This was deeper; she was scared that he had forgotten the oath they had made, before God, to always stick together. They were to watch out for each other, since they were really all they each had left. No wonder she was making such a big deal about this.  
  
"Alex, I could never forget that. I'll never leave you, ok? I'll call Patterson and tell him that I can't work there anymore. You're too important to me - I can't just abandon you when you need me," he murmured. He wanted to say so much more than that, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, for it would only cause her more distress.  
  
Alexia's tears finally subsided, but Zydane kept rocking her. The dinner bell rang, but neither of them moved. Alexia was scared that if she moved, Zydane might decide to leave again, while Zydane was scared that if he moved, he would worry Alexia.  
  
Ten minutes later, Ororo entered the room, calling Alexia to dinner. Eyeing the two on the bed, Alexia with a tear-streaked face being held protectively by a pensive looking Zydane, Ororo had no idea what say. The two teens just looked up at her, as though trying to convey a message to her with their eyes.  
  
*Let them be, Ororo,* Professor Xavier's thoughts sounded in her head. *They are fine together, and will do nothing inappropriate. They just need time alone.*  
  
The white-haired woman nodded to the two. "We'll leave dinner out for you in the kitchen for when you're hungry," she said, and left the room, leaving the two best friends together 


	15. Acclimation

***  
  
DISCLAIMER: Don't own X-men, just my OC's  
  
Thoughts are *blah*  
  
***  
  
Kurt sat in French class, desperately trying to follow what the teacher was saying about pronouns. She was talking so fast, and she wasn't annunciating as well as she normally did. Apparently the upcoming final was just as stressful for her as it was for the students.  
  
Finally giving up entirely on taking notes, Kurt allowed his eyes to drift across the room to where Alexia was sitting, her head still bandaged, scribbling down notes, her eyes never leaving the teacher. At least today, her head hadn't hurt too much to keep her from braiding her hair. The thick brown vine snaked down her back, reaching almost to her waist. Kurt couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like for his fingers to run through her hair...  
  
Kurt's imagination was brought to an abrupt halt by the teacher speaking to him, in English. "Mr. Wagner, I understand that Alexia takes better notes than you do, but I doubt you will be able to absorb the content of them by staring at her."  
  
Kurt felt his cheeks grow hot, and when Alexia turned to him, her green eyes wide with a smile, he felt as if he would burn up. The teacher, satisfied that she had corrected him enough, went back to lecturing in French. Alexia gave Kurt a cute wink, then returned to taking notes.  
  
Kurt felt like melting into the floor. He knew Alexia liked him, and he liked her, but she seemed content waiting for him to make the first move, and he had no clue what to do. He wanted to tell Alexia that he had been dreaming about her, but he didn't want her to get the wrong idea. The dreams weren't dirty, in fact they were anything but. They were about her sitting on a rock at the seashore, watching the waves and telling him about seashells. Or them riding the trails up by the Bungalow. She was so happy in those dreams, as though she had forgotten all her problems with her family, and she was really living for something besides the past.  
  
The bell finally rung, and Kurt stood up, glad that the school day was over. He began to pack up his books, and Alexia walked over, cracking her neck as she watched him. "That's the third time I've caught you staring at me today, Wagner," she said teasingly. "You should stop. Kitty will get jealous."  
  
"Kitty? Vho is Kitty? I only have eyes for vun girl in the vorld," Kurt heard himself say before he knew what he was doing. His face turned red again, and he looked up at her, wondering how she reacted to the unpredicted voicing of his thoughts.  
  
Alexia laughed. "Thank you. You gonna ride with Scott, or do you want me to take you home?"  
  
"Sure, you can take me, as long as you don't plan on another car chase," Kurt accepted the invitation eagerly.  
  
"Alright. Let's go, I need to tackle the rec room today, and I want to get in there before study period is over."  
  
They made their way through the crowded halls of the school toward the parking lot where Alexia's dirt bike had been parked. Zydane, as usual, was waiting in the parking lot, sitting on his own bike. He was there because Professor had told Alexia she could only ride her dirt bike to and from school if someone escorted her.  
  
Kurt and Alexia rolled their eyes at each other as they watched a group of freshman girls crowd around Zydane and began to talk to him, giggling more than what Kurt thought to be humanly possible. Zydane seemed to be trying to shoo them away, but all that did was draw more girls toward him. Eying Alexia and Kurt, he sent them a pleading look as one of the girls successfully stole his helmet and a game of keep-away began.  
  
Kurt watched as Alexia grinned and walked through the crowd of girls with a look of purpose about her. As she reached Zydane, she wrapped her arms around his neck and winked at him, and then turned to the girls behind her. "Don't you think he's a little old for you all?"  
  
The rest of the flock looked dismayed at seeing the prettiest girl in the junior class had laid claim to Zydane. They retreated and Alexia pulled away from Zydane, wiping her hands on her pants as thought Zydane carried a disease she didn't want. "You're welcome," she told him with a grin as she returned his helmet to him.  
  
He returned her grin and pulled his helmet back on. "Thanks. I couldn't get them to leave. Can't they see that I'm like seven years older than them?"  
  
Alexia shrugged and Kurt spoke up. "Sometimes, girls that age don't care about anything as long as it's human and male that they're flirting with...Unt then you have girls like Alexia vho only goes for the dirt bikers unt fuzzy elves."  
  
Alexia shot Kurt a mock-glare and yanked on her helmet. "Just for that, Mr. Wagner," she said, imitating their French teacher perfectly. "You will have to find your own ride home."  
  
"VHAT?" Kurt cried as Alexia swung herself onto her bike and started it up. Kurt snatched the extra helmet off the back of her bike and leapt on, shoving the helmet on.  
  
Alexia and Zydane laughed and the three headed back to the Mansion. -----  
  
After dinner that night, Kurt went to his room to try to study some more for his finals. He could hear Alexia's music coming from her room down the hall. He thought it was kind of funny the way she handled her punishment. She came home everyday after school and cleaned the Mansion until dinner, then she would do all her homework after dinner, which used to be when she would hang out and try to sneak into the kitchen for more food. She was a chronic eater.  
  
Around eight there was a knock on his door, and Kurt looked up, ready for a break.  
  
"Come in," Kurt called. The door opened and in stepped Alexia, the bandage gone form her head.  
  
"Hey," she said, cheerily. "Are you done with your trig book? I left mine in my locker."  
  
"Ja. It's on the desk," Kurt replied.  
  
Alexia walked over and picked up the math book. "Thanks." She paused for a moment then asked. "Did you mean what you said in French class today, about only having eyes for me?"  
  
Caught off guard for the second time that day, Kurt once again answered the truth without time to think. "Of course I meant it. Vhy vould you think I didn't?"  
  
Alexia shrugged. "I was just wondering."  
  
"Ah," Kurt said, blushing a little. Maybe she didn't expect him to actually like him. "Alexia, you don't mind vhat I said, do you?"  
  
Alexia raised her eyebrow at him in a very characteristic 'Alex look' as Zydane called them. It made her look disbelieving and curious all at once. "Not at all Kurt. I thought you knew I wouldn't."  
  
"Vell, yes, I figured but," he stuttered, staring at her. She was so gorgeous, and she was just standing there, waiting for him to finish what he was saying. "Vell, do you vant to?"  
  
"Vant to vhat?" Alexia teased him by imitating his accent.  
  
"Go out with me. Be my girl friend." Kurt couldn't believe what he was saying.  
  
Alexia stood there, as though considering the idea for a moment. "Sure Kurt. We could try it at least, you know?" She had a small smile on her face. "We try it for a week, and if we're not completely satisfied, we can send it back and get a full refund on our friendship."  
  
Kurt couldn't help but share the smile. "Ja, that sounds good to me."  
  
"I need to go do my trig homework," Alexia told him. "Catch ya later love." She kissed him on the cheek and left.  
  
Kurt watched her leave his bedroom, still in shock. She had just called him "love". He had never heard her call anyone that before.  
  
Grinning, Kurt stretched out on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. *This is great,* he thought to himself. ----------------------------  
  
Zydane had to admit, the only possible way he could explain to himself why he was doing this was because Alexia needed him. It was because of Alexia that he was doing this.  
  
In other words, it was Alexia's fault that he was wearing an apron and a hair net.  
  
"What do you guys do when someone hairy has to cook, like Kurt or Logan?" Zydane asked Ororo as he tossed onions into the soup pot.  
  
"Well, first of all, we don't have to worry about Kurt. He doesn't cook. Don't ask why, just know he doesn't cook," she said when Zydane gave her a questioning look. "As for Logan, we have a special apparatus set up for him."  
  
"Oh! Is that what that body suit made out of mosquito netting is in the pantry?"  
  
Ororo attempted not to smile, but failed. "Yes it is. Kitty was complaining so much that there was hair in her food every time he cooked that we told her to do something about it. She did...with a little a help."  
  
Zydane grinned. This Institute place wasn't so bad, once you got used to turning around and seeing kids using their powers everywhere you go. They all seemed pleased to have Zydane there with them, except for Alexia's roommate, Kitty. Every time she saw Alexia or Zydane, she would make a big show of disapproval. But she was the only one who seemed to mind, and Zydane saw it more as her problem than his.  
  
When he had told Professor Xavier that he wanted to stay at the Institute, the older man had just sat for a long time looking at Zydane, as though studying him.  
  
"You will be expected to attend training for your powers, as well as help around the house. There is a community college in town you may take classes at, if you wish. The Institute will cover your tuition," the Professor informed him finally.  
  
"Yes sir," Zydane said, nodding.  
  
"Also, I believe you will be a mediator between Alexia and the rest of us. From what she has told me, and what I have seen of you two together, it seems you are the only one that can understand her."  
  
"I'll do anything to help Alexia."  
  
Professor Xavier nodded. "Yes, I believe you will."  
  
Early, too early, the next day, Zydane was awoken by a large thing bouncing at the foot of his bed.  
  
"Get up you sleepy head! It's seven thirty! You need to come help Luke get out of bed. Hank says he can leave the infirmary for breakfast!"  
  
Zydane groaned and rolled over, looking down at the foot of his bed where Alexia was standing over his feet. Kurt was off to the side a little ways.  
  
"Get up!" Alexia repeated.  
  
A light went on in the back of Zydane's head. "I'll get up, as long as you get down!" With that, he moved his feet, kicking Alexia's legs out from under her. Alexia fell onto the bed, and Zydane leaped at her. Alexia squealed and caught his shoulders before he could land on her full force. The two wrestled around on the bed for a few seconds, and then toppled to the floor where they continued to pretend to be beating each other up.  
  
"Can't you finish this later? Logan will be unhappy if Zydane is late for orientation in the garage." It seemed to Zydane that Kurt was always the voice of reason.  
  
"Okie doke," Alexia agreed, freeing herself easily from the headlock Zydane had her in.  
  
That day, Zydane was elected to be the mechanic for the Institute. He had never done a whole lot on cars, but he was a fast learner. With Logan's tutoring over the first few weeks of his stay, Zydane learned the ins and outs of a car's transmission, as well as quick little tune up things like how to change a spark plug, and how to replace a battery with out killing himself.  
  
Zydane was surprised how easy it was to get along with Logan. The man seemed so gruff, but he kind of grew on Zydane. He had a very independent personality, and if someone did something he didn't like, he told them. It was no wonder that Alexia liked him.  
  
"How long you stayin'?" Logan asked him one day.  
  
"Oh, I don't know," Zydane replied. "I guess as long as Alex is here."  
  
Logan nodded. "Good. That girl needs someone around that can understand her...and live with her obsessions over dirt bikes and Jesus."  
  
"Maybe they're not obsessions," Zydane told him. "To Alexia, they're both important. Dirt biking is something she's done most of her life. It's her way of expressing herself. Ever seen her when she's riding for fun? Just for the sake of riding? She's amazing. She loves it.  
  
"As for Jesus, well, He helped her through a really hard time. After her dad died, her mom couldn't forgive Alexia. Alexia couldn't live with it, and she was on the verge of doing something awful. But then, at this youth conference we went to with the youth group, there was an altar-call for kids who thought they were in hopeless situations and didn't think there was any way to fix them. She went up, and got prayer, and put her faith in God. I did too, because I knew I could only help her if God was helping me. After that, no matter what happened, Alexia knew she couldn't fall, 'cause God was propping her up. But you should ask her about it."  
  
Logan nodded. "Well, what about these Newsboys characters she's always listening to and singing along with?"  
  
Zydane laughed. "Ok, that can be counted as an obsession." 


End file.
